Meat Products, Hydrodynamic Pressure Processing

Food safety and inconsistency in meat quality, in particular tenderness, are two of the top priorities facing the meat industry. Development of commercial methods to ensure consistently tender meat products is of primary importance for enhanced consumer acceptance of meat. Hydrodynamic pressure processing (HDP) is a technology for tenderizing meat using shock waves from underwater detonation of explosives. Upon cooking HDP-treated meat is found to be 25% more tender than nontreated control samples and displays no outward visual signs of change. However, the effects of HDP treatment on further processed meat products are not fully understood and additional studies on further processed meat products of varying textures are necessary to determine the effect of HDP. Keywords: meat; meat processing; hydrodynamic pressure processing; HDP