Characterization of physical & chemical properties of pan-frying cured and uncured bacon and bacon fat

Tejeda, Rossy Ivette

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117610 Copy

Description

Title

Characterization of physical & chemical properties of pan-frying cured and uncured bacon and bacon fat

Author(s)

Tejeda, Rossy Ivette

Issue Date

2022-12-09

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Helferich , William G

Committee Member(s)

• Engeseth , Nicki
• Cadwallader, Keith

Department of Study

Food Science & Human Nutrition

Discipline

Food Science & Human Nutrition

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Bacon fat
• Cured bacon
• Uncured bacon
• Processed meat
• Health Concerns
• Pan-frying process

Abstract

The process of curing meats has been around for thousands of years. Historically, bacon is one of the oldest processed meat products. Bacon is described as the cured belly of a swine (hog) carcass (USDA, 2005). It is pork belly preserved with salt and other additives, such as sodium nitrite and/or sodium nitrate. There are key differences and similarities between cured and uncured bacon as defined. Uncured bacon is simply bacon that has been preserved using naturally sourced nitrates found in beets, celery, and other vegetables (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). In this research, uncured bacon will be defined as having no additional additives or natural nitrates at all. Thus, it is pork belly with no added nitrites or nitrates. Over the years, there’s been an increase of consumption with processed meat. This is likely attributed to the growth of the meat processing industry, increasing demand for bacon and bacon-based products. The global bacon market reached a value of $65.27 Billion in 2021 (Globe Newswire, 2022). In 2020, 268 million Americans consumed bacon (Statista, 2020). Along with this growth in production and consumption, there have been increased health concerns, specifically around cancer, concerning consumption of processed meat products (Cancer Council NSW, 2011). According to American Institute for Cancer Research, there is no scientific evidence supporting that claim that natural ingredients like celery powder is safer or heathier than conventional options (Collins,2020). However, there are journal articles relating nitrite and nitrate as food additives and its association with cancer risks. Since nitrate and nitrite transforms into nitrosamines, during cooking which can lead to potential carcinogens and legitimate concerns (Karwowska and Kononiuk, 2020). Thus, there are various health concerns with it comes down to the production and consumption of bacon and bacon-based products such as uncured bacon and its effect on our diet and health. The overall objective of this project was to characterize the chemical and physical properties of pan-frying cured and uncured bacon and its bacon fat. This research is to understand the curing process and its effect on bacon and the resulting lipid content, color, moisture content, fatty acid profiles and total polar compounds of the bacon and its lipid. Our central hypothesis is that there is no difference between the chemical properties of cured and uncured bacon and the oil extracted from both bacon fat. However, a slight difference between fresh and cooked bacon in moisture content due to the decrease in water content is due to osmotic dehydration induced by the addition of nitrites which can affect the moisture content (Deng et al., 2021) and a color difference between cured and uncured bacon fat comparing to lard due to oil deterioration during the frying process (Sayyad, 2017). Cured and uncured bacon were purchased from the Meat Sciences Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Once the pork belly strips were made, they either underwent curing or not. For this research, uncured bacon will be bacon that has no additional additives or natural nitrates. The bacon was separated packaged into three boxes of cured separately from three boxes of uncured. The bacon strips were taken out of their original packaging, weighed, and recorded. During the cooking process, cured and uncured strips were never cooked in the same pan, and the pans with bacon fat were thoroughly emptied into a mason jar after each bacon box. Once fully cooked, bacon samples were stored at -20°C for future analyses. Data were calculated as mean ± SD (standard deviation) for technical replicates and mean ± RSD (relative standard deviation) for biological replicates. Group means were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Our results showed that there is a significant difference between color of cured, uncured and lard fat samples. There is no significant difference between TPC values and fatty acid profiles in the bacon fat. Major fatty acids in bacon samples, bacon fat and lard: oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and linoleic acid. There is no significant difference between the total lipid content in fresh, uncured, and cured bacon, or cooked uncured and cured bacon. There was a slightly higher moisture content for uncured bacon than cured bacon; however, there was no significant difference between fresh, uncured, and cured bacon, or cooked uncured and cured bacon. These bacon fat samples were analyzed in mice fed diet and their results shows that the consumption of fat from cured bacon promotes reemergence from dormancy compared to fat from fried uncured bacon which can promote breast cancer growth. Thus, these studies need to be further analyzed to make proper recommendations for breast cancer survivors especially as the consumption of fat from fried cured bacon. It will also be beneficial to analyze different types of processed meat can be compared, especially focusing on the different types cured meat which includes bacon and its correlation with health problems.

Graduation Semester

2022-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Rossy Tejeda

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