Commercial use of nuclear magnetic resonance for non-destructive determination of beef tenderness

• Grant number: 21/15223-1
• Support type: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Duration: June 01, 2022 - May 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal researcher: Fabiane de Souza Costa
• Grantee: Fabiane de Souza Costa
• Company: Fit Comércio, Importação e Exportação de Máquinas e Equipamentos Odonto-Médicos Hospitalares e Laboratoriais Ltda
• CNAE: Atividades de apoio à pecuária
• City: São Carlos
• Assoc. researchers: Wignez Henrique
• Associated research grant: 17/15336-5 - Development of portable nuclear magnetic resonance equipment for non-destructive determination of beef tenderness, AP.PIPE

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to improve the equipment developed in PIPE Fase 2 Direta. Was developed a minimum viable product (MVP), capable to measure the tenderness of the beef in a non-destructive way, the analysis running time it's around one and a half minutes, comes with a user-friendly software, so people without knowledge of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and people with simple training can perform the analyses. At this phase, all efforts will be made to reduce the analysis running time, to around 30 seconds or less, to make the equipment able to work in an industrial environment such as beef processing facility, and also to increase the correlation of the non-destructive softness analysis performed by NMR with the softness analysis performed by the destructive method, either with the Warner Bratzler Shear Force technique (reference method), or with a Slice Shear Force. A partnership was established with the company Marfrig Global Foods, the second largest beef processing plant in Brazil, so the tests are inside the company's beef processing plant and all adjustments are made to the equipment to meet the needs of this type of industry. The product resulting from this project is a great interest to the entire beef production chain, especially the slaughterhouses, which are considered direct customers. With this developed equipment, beef processing plant are able to use it in different situations: - Segregate meats that were considered commodities in differentiated meats because they have their tenderness proven by the equipment and, being able to add value to this product; - Eliminate the use of any post-slaughter process in order to increase the tenderness of the meat, such as, for mechanical tenderization, or even reduce or not carry out the cold maturation process carried out in Cold Rooms, which increases the working capital, in addition reducing the electricity bill; - Insert the certified softness seal on premium line products, resulting in more information and reliability for the consumer. (AU)