Rheological behaviour of commercial cooked meat products evaluated by tensile test and texture profile analysis (TPA).

The breaking strength (BS) and energy to fracture (EF) of commercial cooked meat products (CMP) manufactured from different entire pieces were determined by tensile test. BS and EF were related to texture profile analysis (TPA) and physico-chemical data. Two textural profiles were characterized mainly by BS, springiness adhesiveness and fat content. Multivariate regression analysis confirms that TPA parameters could be used to construct models to predict BS and EF. Therefore, just one TPA analysis will allow to obtain both TPA and tensile parameters, providing valuable information about mechanical behaviour to improve product handling at industrial level especially in sliced CMP.