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Reduction of Drying Time for Pepperoni by Vacuum-drying


K.B. CHIN, J.T. KEETON, and R.E. LACEY

Key Words: fermented, sausage, pepperoni, vacuum-drying, texture

INTRODUCTION

FERMENTED SAUSAGES, such as pepperoni, have long shelf-life


due to reduced water activity (aw), increased salt (NaCl) concentration and decreased pH. pH decline in most fermented
products manufactured in the U.S. is achieved through anaerobic
glycolysis of added sugar (glucose) to DL-lactic acid by an inoculum of homofermentative lactic acid bacteria. Reduction in
aw and pH (5.15.2) inhibit the growth of many spoilage microorganisms during ripening (Baldini et al., 1983). According
to Genigeorgis (1978), the major physical factors affected by
fermented sausage ripening are the development of desirable
meat color and flavor, and textural characteristics.
Application of new or existing technologies to shorten drying
time could be of great economic importance for production of
fermented dry sausages such as pepperoni. Lu and Townsend
(1973) shortened the drying period by incorporating freeze-dried
meat into the meat block of a dry sausage formulation. Townsend et al. (1980) reported that fermented sausage drying time
could be reduced '40 to 50% with incorporation of pale, soft,
exudative (PSE) pork in the meat block. However, they noted
increased rancidity and undesirable textural characteristics when
PSE pork alone was used in the manufacture of fermented sausage. Honkavaara (1988), however, reported that a meat block
consisting of 33.2% PSE pork, 36.5% beef, 26.6% back fat,
3.5% salt and 0.1% nitrite produced a fermented dry sausage
without quality defects.
In an effort to shorten drying time and increase efficiency of
pepperoni production, the application of vacuum during the drying phase of production may accelerate water evaporation from
the surface by increasing internal capillary flow. Our objectives
were to assess the effectiveness of vacuum to accelerate pepperoni drying using three temperature treatments and one vacuum (100 KPa) combination, and to determine the time required
to reach a moisture:protein (M:P) ratio of 1.6:1 using vacuum
drying vs pepperoni from the same lot dried to the same endpoint under commercial drying conditions. Chemical composition and physical properties of pepperoni under each treatment
regime were monitored at 3-day intervals over 18 days drying.
Authors Chin and Keeton are with the Dept. of Animal Science,
Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-2471. Author Lacey
is with the Dept. of Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M Univ.,
College Station, TX 77843-2117.

Chemical and physical analyses


Weight loss of individual pepperoni sticks was determined at 3-day
intervals throughout drying. Moisture, fat and crude protein contents (%)
were analyzed according to AOAC (1990) procedures at day 0 and at
each sampling interval. Pepperoni (30g) was blended for 30 sec with
90mL dd-water at high speed in a Waring Blendor. pH values of each
stirred sample were determined in duplicate using a combination electrode attached to a digital pH meter (Model 610, Orion Research Inc.,
Cambridge, MA).
Water activity (aw) values were evaluated every third day using a
Rotronic Hygroskop DT system (Model D2100) equipped with a sensor
(Model DMS 100 H, Huntington, NY) covering the range of 0.80 to
0.95 aw. Pepperoni samples were sliced 5 mm thick, placed in a disposable sample cup (50 mm cm diameter and 10 mm deep) and inserted
into a metal holder. Water activity was measured by the electrolyte sensor and based on electrical impedance difference of a hygroscopic liquid
substance or electrolyte. Calibration of the sensor was performed with
two standard solutions (Rotronic Humidity Standard 959304; 80% RH
and 95% RH) before use. Sliced pepperoni ('10g) was measured using
duplicate samples.
Diameters (mm) of pepperoni sticks were measured in triplicate at 3day intervals. After slicing to 5 mm sections, diameter measurements
were made using calipers at three different sites on each slice. All measurements were performed in triplicate. Kramer shear measurements were
performed using an Instron Universal Testing Machine (Model 1011,
Instron Corp., Canton, MA) equipped with a multi-bladed Kramer shear
attachment. Ten shear measurements were made on individual pepperoni
slices using a 500 kg load cell with a 30 sec downstroke over a shear
load range of 100 kg. Pepperoni sticks were sliced 5 mm thick but varied
in diameter (5042 mm) depending upon the stage of drying at which
the measurements were made. The shear force was calculated as kg
force/g-cm2 of surface area exposed to the shear blade (Acton and Dick,
1977).
Color values were determined with a Hunter Colorimeter and Color
Difference Meter fitted with an M head. The instrument was standardized

142JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCEVolume 61, No. 1, 1996

Sunday Feb 04 07:52 AM

Commercial pepperoni was dried under vacuum (100 kPa) at three temperatures (177, 197, and 227C) and matching controls were dried under
commercial conditions. Vacuum-dried pepperoni achieved a moisture:
protein (M:P) ratio of 1.6:1 after 9 to 12 days drying, compared to 18
days for the control. Overall drying time was reduced '30%. Among
temperature treatments, 177C treatment had more weight loss and darker
color (P , 0.05) than others. Weight loss and Kramer shear force were
higher (P , 0.05) for vacuum-dried pepperoni, whereas Hunter a and b
values tended to be higher for the control throughout the drying period.

142

MATERIALS & METHODS


Preparation of pepperoni
Commercially prepared pepperoni sticks '50 mm in diameter were
manufactured from previously frozen beef and pork, salt, dextrose (proprietory level), spices and sodium nitrite. Tempered (237 to 27C) meat
trimmings were coarse ground, combined with cure ingredients and
spices in a blender, innoculated with a high temperature (407C) starter
culture (Pediococcus sp., Diversitech, Inc. Alachua, FL) and reground
through a fine grinder plate. After vacuum stuffing into fibrous casings,
fermentation was performed in a climate controlled smokehouse at 407C,
85% relative humidity (RH) for 16 to 18 hr to an endpoint pH of 4.5 to
4.6. Proximate composition of the fermented undried pepperoni sticks is
recorded in Table 1.
Samples for vacuum treatment were removed from the fermentation
chamber, cut into 1520 cm sections, clipped, bagged in plastic (to avoid
moisture loss) and shipped overnight to the Meat Science Laboratory at
Texas A&M Univ. Upon receipt, 12 sticks were placed into a laboratory
model vacuum chamber (Model 5851, National Appliance Co, OR and
Model 1410S, VWR Scientific Co, NJ), held at 177, 197 or 227C and the
vacuum adjusted to 100 KPa for a total drying period of 15 days. The
chambers were monitored on a daily basis and pepperoni samples were
removed at 3-day intervals (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 days) to evaluate
chemical composition and physical properties until a final M:P ratio of
1.6:1 or less was achieved. Similar pepperoni sticks from the same manufacturing lot (controls) and the same diameter as the vacuum-dried pepperoni, were dried under commercial conditions (207C, 65% RH,
moderate air flow, 18 days) and sampled at 3-day intervals for comparison with vacuum-dried samples. Three replications (different manufacturing lots) were performed.

FoodScience95 0805 Mp

ABSTRACT

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Table 1Chemical composition means of pepperoni dried under vacuum (100 kPa) as compared to commercially processed controls

0
3
6
9
12
15
18

Fat, %

Moisture, %

Days of
drying
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD

Protein, %

M:P ratio

CTL

VAC

CTL

VAC

CTL

VAC

CTL

VAC

45.3ax
0.9
40.6bx
0.1
38.3cx
0.7
35.1dx
0.8
32.4ex
0.3
30.2efx
1.0
28.0f
0.2

44.8ax
1.1
40.0bx
1.0
35.6cy
1.6
32.3dy
1.6
29.3ey
1.4
26.8fy
1.1

35.0ex
0.3
36.4ex
0.4
38.6dy
0.7
41.2cy
0.4
42.4bcy
0.4
44.2aby
0.4
45.4a
0.3

35.3fx
1.0
37.7ex
0.8
40.9dx
0.8
43.0cx
0.8
44.7bx
0.8
45.9ax
1.2

14.2dx
0.1
15.8cx
1.3
17.0bcx
1.2
17.4bx
1.2
18.0abx
1.1
18.6aby
1.3
19.3a
0.4

13.9fx
0.4
15.1ex
0.3
16.8dx
0.2
17.6cx
0.2
18.5bx
0.7
20.0ax
0.8

3.24ax
0.03
2.58bx
0.21
2.26cx
0.20
2.01cdx
0.10
1.81dex
0.12
1.70ex
0.07
1.45f
0.02

3.22ax
0.09
2.66bx
0.13
2.09cx
0.09
1.83dy
0.10
1.58ey
0.06
1.38fy
0.07

a-f Means among drying days within a control or vacuum treatment having the same superscript are not significantly different (P . 0.05).
x,y Means between control and vacuum treatments having the same superscript are not significantly different (P . 0.05).

CTL: Control (Commercial Drying Conditions); VAC: Vacuum Drying.

Table 2pH, water activity (aw), diameter (DIA) and shear force (SF) of pepperoni dried under vacuum (100 kPa) as compared to commercially processed
controls

0
3
6
9
12
15
18

aw

pH

Days of
drying
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD

SF (kg/g-cm2)

DIA (mm)

CTL

VAC

CTL

VAC

CTL

VAC

CTL

VAC

4.54ax
0.04
4.57ax
0.06
4.60ax
0.09
4.63ax
0.10
4.66ax
0.07
4.64ax
0.09
4.63a
0.08

4.58ax
0.11
4.60ax
0.06
4.57ax
0.07
4.59ax
0.04
4.61ax
0.05
4.59ax
0.04

0.94ax
0.01
0.92abx
0.00
0.91bcx
0.01
0.90cdx
0.01
0.89dex
0.02
0.88ex
0.01
0.87e
0.01

0.94ax
0.01
0.92bx
0.01
0.91cx
0.01
0.90dx
0.01
0.88ex
0.01
0.86fy
0.01

50.0ax
0
49.2ax
0.2
47.9bx
0.6
47.4bx
0.6
46.2cx
1.2
45.9cdx
1.3
45.2d
0.5

50.0ax
0
48.5by
0.4
47.1cx
0.5
46.1dy
0.5
45.0ey
0.5
44.1fy
0.4

0.15cx
0.01
0.17bcx
0.00
0.20by
0.01
0.26aby
0.01
0.29ay
0.03
0.32ay
0.04
0.34a
0.04

0.18dx
0.02
0.22dx
0.04
0.27cx
0.04
0.30cx
0.05
0.37bx
0.06
0.45ax
0.06

a-f Means among drying days within a control or vacuum treatment having the same superscript are not significantly different (P . 0.05).
x,y Means between control and vacuum treatments having the same superscript are not significantly different (P . 0.05).

CTL: Control (Commercial Drying Conditions); VAC: Vacuum Drying.

Table 3Weight loss (%) of pepperoni dried at three temperatures under


vacuum (100 kPa) as compared to commercially processed controls
Weight loss (%)

Days of
drying
0
3
6
9
12
15
18

Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD

CTL

17&C

19&C

22&C

6.05fx
0.10
9.00ey
0.35
13.32dz
0.62
15.88cz
0.53
19.05bz
0.86
21.83a
0.47

6.87ex
1.17
13.76dx
2.46
19.45cx
2.10
23.22bx
1.93
26.17ax
1.49

7.76ex
1.31
12.86dx
0.63
17.02cy
0.71
20.78by
0.41
23.81ay
0.20

6.95ex
0.56
12.32dx
0.75
16.42cy
0.62
20.49by
0.84
23.56ay
0.76

a-f Means among days within drying temperature treatments having the same super-

script are not significantly different (P . 0.05).


x-z Means among drying temperature treatments within days having the same super-

script are not significantly different (P . 0.05).


CTL: Control (Commercial Drying Conditions).

with a white plate (L 5 91.74, a 5 20.97, b 5 1.46) and results were


expressed as Hunter L (whiteness), a (redness), and b (yellowness) values.
Statistical analysis
The statistical model was a randomized block split-plot design. Three
replications (three manufacturing lots) of three different temperature
treatments under one vacuum level were randomly assigned to two vacuum chambers. The whole plot was represented by three temperature
treatments (177, 197 and 227C) and one control, whereas the subplot was
represented by six different drying days (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 days) of

each temperature treatment. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance by the general linear model procedure (GLM) of Statistical Analysis
System (SAS Institute, Inc., 1985). Treatments by replication and drying
day by replication were used for error terms in the GLM analysis. When
treatment effects were significant (P , 0.05), mean separation was accomplished using the Student-Newman-Kuels procedure.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION


BASED ON A PRELIMINARY STUDY, three temperatures (177, 197,
and 227C) in combination with vacuum (100 kPa) were selected
to evaluate the effects of vacuum drying. Because no differences
among temperature treatments were found (P . 0.05) for chemical composition, pH, water activity, diameter and shear force
values, means of all temperature treatments under vacuum were
pooled.
Percentages of moisture, fat, protein and the M:P ratio of
fermented pepperoni over the 18 day drying period were compared (Table 1). On the initial day of drying, moisture mean
values were 4445%, and decreased (P , 0.05) to 2630% in
all treatments during 15 days drying. Differences in moisture
between the control and vacuum drying treatment became apparent (P , 0.05) after 6 days drying. However, no differences
in moisture were observed among temperature treatments. Moisture of the vacuum-dried pepperoni samples ranged from 29 to
30% after 12 days drying to achieve a M:P ratio 1.6:1, the
maximum legal limit allowed for pepperoni. Acton and Dick
(1976) reported that the average moisture content of commercial
pepperoni was 28.5% (53.8%) which was similar to our results.
As moisture content of pepperoni decreased, percentages of
fat and protein increased (P , 0.05) as expected (Table 1). Fat
content of vacuum-dried pepperoni was higher than the control,

Volume 61, No. 1, 1996JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE143

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VACUUM-DRIED PEPPERONI . . .
Table 4Hunter color values of pepperoni dried at three temperatures under vacuum (100 kPa) as compared to commercially processed controls

0
3
6
9
12
15
18

Hunter-a

Hunter-L

Days of
drying
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Mean
SD

Hunter-b

CTL

17&C

19&C

22&C

CTL

17&C

19&C

22&C

CTL

17&C

19&C

22&C

44.7ay
0.6
44.2ax
1.1
42.6abx
1.7
41.5bcx
1.9
39.8cdx
2.2
38.7dx
2.8
37.9d
2.8

46.7ax
0.4
45.2bx
1.0
44.4bx
1.1
40.5cx
1.4
38.6cdx
0.5
36.7dy
0.6

44.9axy
1.5
44.0abx
0.8
42.6bcx
0.6
41.7cdx
0.3
39.7dx
1.7
37.2exy
0.4

46.1axy
1.6
45.2ax
1.8
42.9bx
1.9
42.2bx
1.2
39.0cx
2.0
38.1cxy
2.0

23.1ax
1.2
23.2ax
0.8
23.6ax
1.7
23.6ax
1.4
23.8ax
2.0
23.2ax
1.3
23.9a
1.7

22.4axy
1.0
22.0axy
0.2
22.6axy
0.5
22.5axy
0.8
22.0ay
0.3
21.9ayz
0.6

21.5ay
0.3
21.3ay
1.2
21.6ay
0.5
21.6ay
0.1
21.9ay
1.0
21.6az
0.6

21.3by
1.2
21.8aby
0.8
22.3ay
0.3
22.4axy
0.5
22.5axy
0.2
23.2axy
0.2

19.9ax
0.5
18.9abx
1.2
18.3bx
2.2
17.9bcx
2.4
17.3cdx
2.3
16.5dx
2.4
16.6d
2.8

18.1ay
0.4
17.2ay
0.3
17.2aby
0.6
16.1bcy
0.9
15.3cdy
0.1
14.7dy
0.2

17.5ay
0.4
17.1ay
0.2
16.9ay
0.4
16.5aby
0.2
15.7bcy
0.7
14.9cy
0.3

17.9ay
0.1
17.5ay
0.7
17.3abxy
0.9
16.6bcy
0.4
16.0cy
0.5
15.7cxy
0.4

a-f Means among days within drying temperature treatments having the same superscript are not significantly different (P . 0.05).
x-z Means among drying temperature treatments within days having the same superscript are not significantly different (P . 0.05).

CTL: Control (Commercial Drying Conditions).

as the M:P ratio reached 1.6:1 after 9 to 12 days drying. However, no differences in protein content were noted between control and vacuum dried samples. Acton and Dick (1976) reported
the average fat and protein content of pepperoni to be 43%
(53.7%) and 18% (51.6%), respectively. Results from their
study were similar to ours with 4445% fat and 1819% protein
at a M:P ratio of 1.6:1. Demeyer et al. (1974) and Genigeorgis
(1978) have shown that the amount of protein and fat in pepperoni is important and that they affect development of flavor
via proteolysis and lipolysis during drying.
A M:P ratio of 1.6:1 was achieved after 9 to 12 days vacuum
drying (Table 1) over a range of 177C to 227C. This is important
because it demonstrates that the drying time of pepperoni could
potentially be shortened from 18 days to 9 to 12 days with use
of vacuum (100 kPa). This represents a reduction in drying time
of '30%. M:P ratios of all treatments decreased (P , 0.05)
during drying due to loss of moisture and corresponding increases in protein and fat (Table 1).
Initial pH of all pepperoni sticks ranged from 4.54 to 4.58
and did not change substantially during drying (Table 2). By
day 12 and at a M:P ratio 1.6:1, pH in vacuum dried pepperoni
was 4.61 (50.05) while the control was not different (P . 0.05)
statistically. These results were in agreement with Palumbo et
al. (1976) who reported a pH range of 4.74.9 with 50.1 pH
unit variation during drying. However, Wardlaw et al. (1973)
observed that the pH decreased (P , 0.05) during fermentation
and then increased by 0.10.2 pH unit during long term (60
days) drying due to appearance of basic nonprotein nitrogen
(NPN) compounds.
Water activity (aw) initially was 0.94 (50.01) for both treatments and decreased (P , 0.05) to 0.880.89 after 12 days
vacuum drying (Table 2). There were no differences in aw between the control and vacuum treatments through 12 days drying, but after 15 days, vacuum-dried pepperoni samples had
lower (P , 0.05) aw than controls. Palumbo et al. (1976) reported aw of commercial pepperoni to range from 0.80 to 0.87
depending on degree of drying. They also noted that aw in the
early drying stage did not change significantly, although the rate
of weight loss was faster.
Pepperoni diameters (mm) in all treatments decreased proportionally with a decrease in moisture (Table 2). Initial diameters of 50 mm were reduced to 46.2 mm for the control and
45.0 mm for vacuum-dried pepperoni when treatments reached
a 1.6:1 M:P ratio on day 12. Diameter differences (P , 0.05)
were apparent between the control and vacuum treatments beginning at the third day of drying and continuing through day
15. However, diameters at a M:P ratio of 1.6:1 were almost
equal, 45.0 vs 45.2 mm.
Kramer shear force (kg/g-cm2) measurements (Table 2) increased (P , 0.05) in all treatments as drying time increased
and were slightly higher for vacuum-dried samples. Differences

(P , 0.05) between controls and vacuum treatments began to


appear after 6 days drying and were apparent on days 12 and
15 (Table 2). On day 12, the average shear force for all vacuumdried pepperoni was 0.37 kg/g-cm2, whereas the control was
0.29 kg/g-cm2. However, a comparison of vacuum-dried pepperoni on day 12 and the control on day 18 showed similar
values of 0.37 and 0.34 kg/g-cm2, respectively. Acton et al.
(1977) reported the shear force of commercial fermented sausage dried for 30 days to be .1.0 kg/g-cm2, but the addition of
corn syrup softened the product. Differences in shear force values we observed, as compared to Acton et al. (1977), might be
due to differences in shear conditions, the thickness and diameter of the samples, or the number of days dried.
Weight loss (%) of pepperoni sticks increased (P , 0.05)
during drying (Table 3) across all treatments as drying time
progressed. After 12 days, .20% of total weight was lost in all
vacuum treatments (Table 3), while the control weight loss was
only 16%. The rate of weight loss for vacuum treatments was
greater than that of the control after 6 days drying and tended
to decrease over the drying period (Table 3). Water activity,
however, decreased consistently over the drying period (Table
2). These results agree with Townsend et al. (1980) who concluded that most of the moisture must be lost before changes in
aw could be discerned. The 177C treatment had more weight loss
than the other vacuum treatments after 9 drying days. After 6
days vacuum drying, all treatments had lost more weight than
the control and reached a 1.6:1 M:P ratio between 9 and 12
days. Weight loss to that endpoint appeared to be similar
whether dried under vacuum or by conventional means but vacuum drying was more rapid. Thus, weight loss, product diameter, aw and Kramer shear force values of control pepperoni
samples taken after a normal 18 day drying cycle were comparable to those after 9 to 12 days vacuum drying.
Hunter L (whiteness) and b (yellowness) values decreased (P
, 0.05) in all treatments as drying time progressed (Table 4),
but generally Hunter a (redness) values were not different except
for the initial 227C treatment (day 0) and day 15. Pepperoni
dried under vacuum and by the traditional method had similar
Hunter L values across temperature treatments throughout drying (Table 4). However, the control in many cases had higher
(P , 0.05) Hunter a values on a specific drying day than the
vacuum treatments. Control Hunter b values were higher than
vacuum treatments throughout drying which may be partially
due to higher initial Hunter b values. Townsend et al. (1980)
reported an increase in Hunter a values for fermented sausage
during fermentation, whereas no differences were noted during
drying. Our results confirmed the observation of Townsend et
al. (1980) and noted that control Hunter b values were higher
(P , 0.05) than those of vacuum-dried samples. Thus, vacuumdried pepperoni did not differ in whiteness from the control but
tended to be less red and yellow.
Continued on page 148

144JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCEVolume 61, No. 1, 1996

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BEEF QUALITY BY IMAGE PROCESSING. . .


component did not affect judges scoring and therefore must be
the least important color component. Standard deviations of R,
G, and B were not significant (P . 0.05), probably because of
limited ranges of variation in these parameters. These data confirmed the complexity of defining fresh meat color in an RGB
format (AMSA, 1991).
Sensory panel marbling scores were regressed against different combinations of marbling features. When global marbling
area density, Da, was used as the independent variable, the resulting R2 was 0.69 compared to 0.47 reported by McDonald
and Chen (1992) on the basis of marbling area. This improvement was probably due to improved segmentation resulting from
the use of color images. Regression of sensory marbling scores
against count density, Dc, was slightly better (R2 5 0.70). However, an R2 of 0.69 or 0.70 is not considered adequate and shows
that marbling scores were not satisfactorily predicted using either marbling area or number of flecks per unit area alone.
Regression of sensory marbling scores against all computed
marbling features through backward elimination revealed several important features (Table 2). The fact that the mean red was
significant in predicting marbling suggested that judges were
influenced by the lean color. In a commercial setting, beef carcasses are normally ribbed to expose the LD muscle well in
advance (3060 min) of the USDA grader. During this period
of time, oxygen permeates the muscle tissue and changes the
major muscle pigment from deoxymyoglobin (dark purplish red)
to the more normal appearing oxymyoglobin (bright cherry red).
This common practice confirms the impact that color has on
sensory evaluation of marbling scores and is consistent with our
data.
Both the count and area densities of small marbling flecks
(Dc1 and Da1) influenced sensory grading as expected. Although
our sensory panel was instructed to weigh large and small marbling flecks evenly, the significance of area density for large
flecks (Da3) suggested that the presence of a few large marbling
flecks strongly affected sensory scoring. Likewise, global marbling area density (Da) was significantly related to ultimate marbling score. These data suggested that the panel was unable to
discern thoroughly between differences in marbling fleck size
and abundance. This confirmed our initial assumptions that human evaluation of meat quality, in particular marbling score, is
imprecise. Instinctively, panelists perceive marbling score as related to overall abundance of marbling even though the USDA
grading standards mandate that each marbling fleck be considered equal regardless of size (USDA, 1989). Although this sensory panel did not receive as much training as individuals

employed by the USDA grading service, these data confirmed


potential problems associated with visual evaluation of marbling
scores.
Image features relating to the spatial variation of marbling
were not significant in the regression. This confirmed the report
of McDonald and Chen (1992) that information on the spatial
distribution of marbling was no more valuable in predicting
marbling scores than surface fat area. Our results further substantiated the claim that uniform sensory evaluations of marbling scores are difficult because they are subjective and biased
by visual deception of the total amount of marbling (USDA,
1989).
CONCLUSIONS
IMAGE PROCESSING FEATURES accurately predicted the color (R2
5 0.86) and marbling scores (R2 5 0.84) of beef steaks that
were taken at the 12th and 13th rib where beef quality grades
were determined in an on-line commercial setting. Use of
this technology could greatly improve quality control of beef
production in packing plants. Developing an automated system
to detect such quality attributes could have a strong impact on
food processing industries.
REFERENCES
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Ms received 3/13/95; revised 8/8/95; accepted 8/28/95.

This paper is a contribution from the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station Journal
series number 12,287.
We thank Dr. Don Nauman for invaluable experience and suggestions, our ten panelists for
determination and time, and Rockville Meat Co. for generous support. This research was
supported in part by funds from the Missouri Beef Industry Council and was presented in
part or whole at the American Society of Animal Sciences meeting in Orlando, FL.

VACUUM-DRIED PEPPERONI. . .From page 144


CONCLUSIONS
PEPPERONI SAMPLES dried under vacuum achieved a M:P ratio
of 1.6:1 after 9 to 12 days drying which was comparable to
18 days conventional drying. This represented reduction in drying time of '30% compared to a commercial process without
noticeable quality defects. There were no differences (P . 0.05)
among temperature treatments of 177, 197 and 227C for most
parameters except weight loss and Hunter L and a values. Further testing with a pilot plant scale vacuum chamber appears
warranted.
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Ms received 2/23/95; revised 8/7/95; accepted 9/15/95.

148JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCEVolume 61, No. 1, 1996

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