Quality characteristics and storage stability of patties from buffalo head and heart meats Arun K. Verma, 1 Veerappa Lakshmanan, 1 Arun K. Das, 2 * Sanjod K. Mendiratta 1 & Anne Sita Ram Anjaneyulu 1 1 Division of Livestock Products Technology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, UP 243 122, India 2 Goat Products Technology Laboratory, Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makdoom, Farah, Mathura 281 122, India (Received 9 July 2007; Accepted in revised form 17 October 2007) Summary The study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of using buffalo head and heart meat in emulsion based products preparation and to assess their quality during refrigerated storage. The whole study was carried out in three phases. In phase I, head meat patties (HMP) (treatment I, II and III) were prepared in which head meat was substituted with 15%, 20% and 25% skeletal meat and compared with patties from skeletal meat (control). Treated patties had higher emulsion stability, cooking yield, pH and lower shrink percentage and chewiness than control. Sensory attributes of control and treated patties did not differ significantly. In phase II, HMP were prepared in which head meat was substituted with 20%, 30% and 40% heart meat and similarly compared with control as in phase I. Addition of heart meat in HMP had significantly (P< 0.05) increased pH, cooking yield, moisture, lower protein and fat content than control patties. Hardness, gumminess and chewiness values of control patties were higher than treated patties. HMP with heart meat had higher tenderness than control. Control patties rated better than treated patties during sensory evaluation. In phase III, quality of patties was assessed at refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C) for 15 days. The patties remained stable with minor changes in physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory quality during refrigerated storage for 15 days. Buffalo head and heart meat effectively be utilised in developing patties. Keywords Head meat, heart meat, patties, quality, shelf-life, texture analysis. Introduction India has the world’s largest buffalo population con- taining 98.81 million buffaloes. Buffalo meat production is 1.78 million tonnes from slaughter of 10.94 million animals and this account for 25.85% of total meat production in the country (FAO, 2006). India is the fifth largest exporter of buffalo meat in the global market with exports of 4.60 lakh tonnes valued at Rs. 2629 crores in 2005–06 (APEDA, 2006). The slaughter of large numbers of buffaloes for export results in the production of buffalo offal meats at a much higher quantity than the demand for local consumption. This leads to price-cut of buffalo offal meats and even considerable wastage. Hence, efficient utilisation of these meats adopting cost effective way with modern technologies is essentially needed to support an eco- nomical and viable meat production system. A great deal of efforts and research are being focused on appropriate technologies for better utilisation of these offal meats. Both these meats are available at a comparatively cheaper price than skeletal meat. Krishnan & Sharma (1991) prepared highly acceptable buffalo meat sausages by incorporating buffalo offal (rumen and heart meat) meats. Anjaneyulu & Kondaiah (1990) reported that up to 20% combination of rumen meat and heart meat in the ratio of 3:1 can be incorporated in comminuted buffalo meat products as a replacement of lean without impairing the quality of the final product. Pearson & Gillett (1997) have indicated that heart meat and head meat of cattle can be used as ingredients for comminuted meat products. In this study, an attempt was made for efficient utilisation of buffalo head and heart meats in commi- nuted meat product for preparation of quality meat patties and its shelf-life evaluation during refrigerated storage. *Correspondent: Fax: +91 565 2763246; e-mail: arunlpt@gmail.com International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2008, 43, 1798–1806 1798 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2007.01707.x Ó 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation Ó 2008 Institute of Food Science and Technology