Reports
Predrag Ikonić, Tatjana Tasić and Dušica Ivanov visited INRA-France
Predrag Ikonić, Tatjana Tasić and Dušica Ivanov, three young researchers from Institute for Food Technology in Novi Sad, had opportunity to visit respected French National Institute for Agronomic Research INRA in Clermont-Ferrand, Theix in period of two months, from 15th of March to 15th of May, year 2010. Ranked the number one agricultural institute in Europe and number two in the world, INRA carries out mission-oriented research for high-quality and healthy foods, competitive and sustainable agriculture and a preserved and valorized environment. The aim of this visit was to improve research skills of young Serbian researchers, and training program was specially created according to their personal scientific interest.
Predrag Ikonić - Training consisted of investigation on formation of crust at the surface of beef meat during heat treatments. Crust is currently defined as the zone where temperature is greater than 100°C, but it can increase up to 200°C (grilling/roasting). The thickness and structure of the curst greatly affect the sensorial properties of the meat (especially flavor) and can lead to the formation of heterocyclic Aromatic Amines which are carcinogenic compounds. In order to characterize the crust formation under different heating conditions he was working on:
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laboratory heating device - measurement of temperatures at the meat surface and in the meat sample, during heat treatments,
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binocular laboratory microscope with built-in digital camera - measurement of crust thickness and distance of thermocouples,
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Color Profiler program (MatLab) - measurement of color gradients.
