Ultrastructural Changes During Chopping and Cooking of A Frankfurter Batter

ABSTRACT

Frankfurters were made in a nonvacuum bowl chopper. Batter samples were taken after 2, 6, 9, 12, and 15 min of chopping and after 30, 60, and 90 min of cooking. Both raw and cooked batter samples were fixed in solutions of glutaraldehyde and paraformaldehyde, OsO₄, and then embedded in SPURR (low-viscosity resin). Light microscopy (toluidine blue-stained sections) was used to identify the location, appearance and structures of major components; electron microscopy (lead citrate-stained sections) was used to determine ultrastructural changes. During chopping, muscle fibers were reduced in size but some remained intact; lipid droplets were reduced in size with only a portion of them being surrounded by a protein interface and collagen fibers were somewhat dispersed but were otherwise unaltered. More observable changes occurred during cooking than during chopping. At the end of cooking (90 min) collagen fibrils had lost their banding pattern; some lipid droplets retained their protein interface and myofilaments changed from a fibrous to a granular appearance.