Quick and reliable screening of compatible ingredients for the formulation of extended meat cubes using Plackett-Burman design

“Extended meat products” is an important concept which involves judicious utilization of other agricultural/animal produce as well as providing meat-like products. Selection of compatible ingredients from among numerous alternates is a daunting task. Of the several methods available, Plackett-Burman design was used to screen 11 potential ingredients to formulate extended meat cubes. Twelve formulations were evolved and their evaluation as rehydrated and stewed meat cubes were carried out by a sensory panel. The attributes of firmness, juiciness, meaty aroma and overall quality were rated by an intensity ranking test followed by appropriate statistical analysis provided regression coefficients for individual ingredients for each attribute. Based on the direction of change (increase or decrease over control) for each attribute and its relation to the overall acceptability of the ingredients for their compatibility in formulating the product was provided. The overall rank sums for each ingredient and the attributes provided a reliable means to select the most compatible ingredients for further optimization work.