Shockwave effects in the technology of meat raw material processing

Meat tenderness is recognized as the most important quality characteristic determining consumer acceptability of fresh meat and meat products. Therefore, the development of effective methods for meat tenderization is a topical direction. The review considers the main aspects of the development of shockwave (SW) technology as an alternative method for meat tenderization. The paper analyzes the means of shockwave formation as well as possible mechanisms responsible for meat tenderization caused by shockwave treatment and related to the energy dissipation and mechanical load on the boundary zones of a biological material under processing. The results of the investigations of a shockwave effect on meat tenderness, microbial inactivation, structure and assimilability of muscle protein and other functional and technological properties of a product are presented. The majority of researchers who studied a SW effect on meat tenderization showed different degrees of the improvement in the Warner-Bratzler shear force and increase in sensory scores of meat tenderness. This review shows the main problems linked with commercialization of the meat treatment process using SW based on electrical discharges under water. This method of SW generation is considered safest but infeasible today due to occurrence of restrictions such as damage of packaging materials after treatment, a need to ensure effective SW propagation in a commercial unit and determine optimal treatment parameters in the process of shockwave tenderization. Furthermore, potential possibilities of using shockwave technologies in the food industry are discussed. In particular, shockwave treatment upon extraction is an effective method for extracting juice/ oil/ bioactive components from various plant materials, which can be used as the pretreatment or independent process.