The Application of TG Prolink MB on Bacon and Steak

It is hard to meet consumers demand that only developing animal husbandry industry. Besides high requirements on meat taste, people also have a higher standard on the meat appearance.

 New products and new technologies need to meet the needs of product quality and appearance. Relying on the development of biotechnology, it is possible to make different sizes of meat pieces, slices of meat and even fatty meat, etc., bonding together into imitation pancetta, various steaks and chops, or made into other new products, thus increasing their nutritional value and price.

I. The application of TG enzyme in bacon

In the past, people purchased bacon and steaks which proceed  by their nature physiological characteristics.

The supply of products are not only limited but also expensive. It is not suit for public consumption. Later, people rely on colloidal binders to make bonding meat or artificial bone steak. However, this kind of meat is prone to falling apart after colloidal bonding when cutting after thawing, or the meat tends to separate when the customer is enjoying it. Above problems making food tasteless and unappealing to customers. 

In order to avoid the shortcomings of bad bonding, the merchants thought of chemical binders. Although chemical binders can solve the problem of incompetent bonding, it also brings trouble, that is, the bonding line is yellow, like moldy spoiled food, and the use of chemical binders will make the product have safety problems.

With the application and development of biotechnology and biological engineering, the biological transglutaminase enzyme Prolink MB Series is applied to bacon meat bonding. As a result,  steak with TG enzyme Prolink MB Series is firm, and the bonding line is not obvious, which is environmentally friendly, safe and healthy.

II. The characteristics of TG  enzyme in the application process

1. Safe use: biological fermentation, green and healthy. TG enzyme is a protein with biological activity, and its consumption has no effect on the human body after activation.

2. Extremely binding force: The covalent bond formed between proteins catalyzed by TG enzyme  is difficult to break under general non-enzyme catalytic conditions, so the enzymes are used to process the food components with strong bonding. After the formation is treated with this enzyme, it will not be dispersed through frozen, sliced, and cooking treatment.

3. Good pH stability: The most suitable pH of TG enzymes is 6 to 7, and it has high activity in the range of pH5 to 8. When the pH is lower than 5, the enzyme activity decreases rapidly. When the pH is higher than 8 less, the enzyme activity decreases slowly. This is consistent with the pH of the general protein food system, which is conducive to the application of food production.

4. Strong thermal stability: After research, the optimal temperature of the TG transglutaminase enzyme is about 52°C, and it has high activity within the range of 42 to 57°C. Especially in the protein food system, the thermal stability of the enzyme will be significantly improved. This characteristic makes it not quickly damaged due to thermal treatment during the general food processing process.

5. The reaction temperature (within the temperature of maintaining enzyme activity) and time are negatively correlated: the higher the reaction temperature, the shorter the reaction time; conversely, the temperature is lower, the reacion time is longer. The physicochemical properties of different types of foods are taken into account to decide the relationship between temperature and time during the reaction.

TG Prolink MB can be widely used in the restructured meat, meatballs made by pork, fish, beef, beef , grilled sausage and other intestines, protein meat, noodles, bread and other baking products, Chiba tofu, cheese, etc. It plays an important role in improving the taste, flavor, organizational structure and nutrition of meat products.