The influence of the rotational speed of the meat cutter knives and bowl on the microstructure of meat products

The aim of the study was to determine the structure of meat batter and processed meat products, depending on the chopping time and rotational speed of the cutter knives and bowl, by means of histochemical methods combined with the computer image analysis system. Finely comminuted meat batters and processed meat products were investigated. Four variants of the rotational speed of cutter knives and bowl were applied in the experiment: 1500/10 rpm, 1500/20 rpm , 3000/10 rpm and 3000/20 rpm. The chopping process lasted 10 min. After 5, 6, 8 and 10 min of chopping samples of meat batter and processed meat products were collected for histological analyses. The microstructure of structural elements (fat globules and collagen fibres) was measured using computer image analysis. The following parameters were included in a characteristic of the images: the area, circumference, length and width of fat fields; the number of fat fields analysed; the percentage of fat fields in the field under analysis; the area, circumference, length and width of collagen fibres. The computer image analysis showed that the optimal speed of the cutter knives and bowl was 3000/20 rpm. The chopping time was reduced from 10 to 8 min.