WHCtrend, an up-to-date method to measure water holding capacity in meat.

An up-to-date procedure to standardize the measurement of the water holding capacity of meat, including new parameters and a new instrument, are proposed to simplify and standardize the use of the filter paper press method. The new instrument "WHCtrend instrument" employed Video Image Analysis, and a video camera placed above a compression system to measure the area formed by 250 mg of homogenized meat. For measurements, an image was acquired at time = 0 s, and every 15 s for 10 min after compression with a 500 N force. The meat total area was easily distinguishable from the white background. A dynamic measurement of fluid release over time was obtained and was called "WHCtrend". The new procedure was tested on different meats and the Pearson correlation coefficients between meat quality parameters and WHCtrend parameters were found to be significant. The "WHCtrend instrument" could be useful to rapidly screen meat water holding capacity and improve meat quality control.