Carrageenan is a kind of pure vegetable gum extracted from red seaweed. In the food industry, it is mainly used as a thickener and gel-forming agent in fruit and vegetable processing, beverage production and artificial protein fibers. The structural characteristics of different types of carrageenan determine its water-solubility, cohesiveness, emulsion stability and gel-forming properties.

1. Preparation method of carrageenan and its function suitable for meat processing

1.1. Manufacturing Method

Use dilute lye or hot water to extract red seaweed belonging to the spearmint family (so carrageenan is also known as carrageenan), then add ethanol and other alcohols to the extract for sedimentation and concentration, and finally use drum drying or vacuum freezing. Just do it. When recovering carrageenan by drum drying, in order to facilitate the separation of the finished product and the drum, mono- or diglycerides or polysorbate 80 with less than 5% of polysorbate 80 must be added as a release agent.

1.2. Functionality for Meat Processing

Dispersibility and Water Retention Carrageenan Molecules a – The sulfate groups in the structure are highly hydrophilic and soluble in water. If soaked with ethanol, glycerol or saturated sucrose solution, it is easier to disperse in water. Dissolve carrageenan in hot water at 80°C to form a viscous transparent or slightly milky white free-flowing solution. Its dispersibility and water retention are concentrated in that it can reduce the cooking loss of meat products and increase the yield.

Experiments show that adding carrageenan to meat products can reduce the cooking loss of poultry products by 2%-4%, the loss of cured meat by 3%-6%, the loss of sausage products by 8%-10%, and the loss of ham products by 9.6%.

The gel formation experiment showed that: Carrageenan was boiled with 30 times of water for 10 minutes and then cooled to form a gel. This is mainly due to the “double helix structure” formed by the heating-induced intramolecular ring closure. According to its structural characteristics, aqueous solutions of carrageenan can form two kinds of gels, namely reversible, strong and brittle gels, and reversible, weak and elastic gels. This gel-forming property, on the one hand, reveals the mechanism of its water retention, and on the other hand is closely related to the texture, gelatinity and slicing of meat products.

The compression test and comprehensive evaluation of the enema products using carrageenan and the control products show that: carrageenan can significantly improve the sliceability of meat food, increase the elasticity of the product, and can also stabilize the emulsified emulsion. The ability of emulsification and stability depends on the degree of bridging reaction between it and the amino acid carboxyl group of the protein molecule.

Carrageenan was added to the protein emulsion system, and compared with phosphate and soy protein isolate (ISP), the results showed that carrageenan had good emulsion stability. And its synergy with phosphate and soybean protein isolate can further improve the ability of stable emulsification.

According to research, the emulsion stability of carrageenan is closely related to its gel formation and dispersion thickening. Gel formation can encompass a large number of droplets, while dispersion thickening increases the density of the dispersion medium and reduces the rate at which droplets rise. The low water activity (aw) of the product reflects the microbiological safety of the product to a certain extent, and also shows the quality of the food. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the activity of water.

Experiments show that: 0.3% carrageenan can reduce the water activity of meat food (meat filling) by 0.0011, which is only lower than complex phosphate and doubled compared with soybean protein isolate. When carrageenan was mixed with phosphate and soy protein isolate and added to the meat at the same level, the resulting water activity decreased by 0.0017. It can be seen that carrageenan can significantly reduce the water activity of meat products, which is beneficial to the preservation of meat products.

2. Application of carrageenan in meat products

2.1. For Ham Processing

2.1.1. Process Flow (take boneless ham as an example)

Raw Meat → Deboning → Trimming → Marinating → Rolling and Kneading → Smoking → Cooking → Cooling → Packaging

2.1.2. Instructions

Brine injection pickling method. Dissolve 2.5%-3.0% of table salt and 0.4% of compound phosphate in water, then add 0.3%-0.4% of carrageenan to fully disperse, absorb water and dissolve (can be properly heated) to prepare a pickling solution. Then use a multi-needle brine injection machine to inject the pickling liquid into the meat blank, and tumble it in a vacuum tumbler or massage it by hand to make it penetrate into the meat tissue. When injecting saline, attention should be paid to the sufficient dispersion and dissolution of carrageenan, and the continuity of injection should also be considered to avoid the needle diameter being too small to be blocked.

2.2. For the Processing of Sausage Products

2.2.1. Recipe

70kg of lean pork, 20kg of fat, 10kg of starch, 2kg of sugar, 200g of pepper, 100g of monosodium glutamate, 50g of nitrite, 3kg of refined salt, 400g of phosphate, 400g of carrageenan, 250g of sodium caseinate, and appropriate amount of water.

2.2.2. Process Flow

Accessories → Raw Meat → Finishing → Dicing → Mincing → Marinating → Chopping → Filling → Baking → Cooking → Packaging

2.2.3. Use Method and Key Technology

Pickling method: Mix carrageenan, table salt, compound phosphate and sodium caseinate with water that accounts for 20% of the weight of the raw materials to make a pickling solution, and pickle the meat at 0-4°C for 24 hours. When chopping, just chop slowly for 2 minutes and then chop quickly for 2 minutes. Carrageenan and sodium caseinate are added during chopping.

The chopping and mixing procedure is as follows: chop the minced meat slowly for 1 nin → add carrageenan and other slow chopping for 1 min → add half of the total fat fat and chop quickly for 1 min → add starch and chop slowly for 0.5 min → add spices and chop and mix for 0.5 min → add the remaining fat fat and chop quickly 1min.

During the whole chopping and mixing process, the temperature should not exceed 10 ℃. If the temperature is high, an appropriate amount of ice chips can be added to the meat instead of water. The weight of the ice added should be counted in the weight of the water.

2.3. For Reconstituted Meat Products

2.3.1. Process Flow

Raw Meat → Trimming → Water Immersion → Brine Injection → Mold Loading → Cooking → Cooling → Demoulding → Packaging

2.3.2. Technical Key

You can choose different breeds and different parts of minced meat of livestock and poultry. After deboning, blood removal, water washing, and 3.0% saline injection, the mixed powder prepared with 0.4% carrageenan and complex phosphate is sprinkled between the minced meat in powder form or pre-formed dispersion during moulding. Then mature into shape.

In addition to the three typical examples of carrageenan used in meat products mentioned above, it can also be used in fish and canned products (the dosage is 20g/kg), and it can also be used in broth (5g/kg). Currently, carrageenan sold on the market is a white or light gray powdery substance. In specific applications, it can synergize with other substances according to different types of properties, so as to obtain one or several specific functions, and serve for the production of meat products and the development of new products.