Physicochemical, functional and microbiological quality of buffalo liver.

Buffalo liver is an important edible meat byproduct. However, in developing countries including India, it has a low commercial value and is underutilized. The present investigation was conducted to provide basic information on physicochemical, functional and microbiological quality of buffalo liver. Proximate composition was: moisture - 71.92%, protein - 18.44%, fat - 5.60%, carbohydrate - 2.72%, total ash - 1.32% and total energy - 135 kcal. Mineral concentrations (mg%) in liver were: Na - 60.04, K - 274, Ca - 5.60, Mg - 6.20, Fe - 20.86 and Cu - 5.60. Mean glycogen (mg/g), total liver pigments (mg/g) and cholesterol (mg%) were 7.07,8.49 and 283.88, respectively. The mean pH values of buffalo liver was 6.42, WHC - 38 ml per 100 g and cooking yield was 73.15%. Protein extractability studies indicated that liver contains higher amounts of water-soluble proteins (20-40%) than salt soluble proteins (7-15%) and presence of high molecular weight proteins in salt soluble protein fractions. The average microbial counts (log(10) cfu/g) for different organisms were APC - 6.10; psychrotrophs - 4.30; enterobacteriaceae counts - 4.97; staphylococcal counts 2.50 and total coliforms - 2.82.