International Journal of Food

Engineering
Volume 7, Issue 2

2011

Article 1

Modelling with Response Surface

Methodology of the Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg
White, and Sodium Carbonate on Some of the
Physical-Chemical and Sensory Properties of
Beef Patties
zgr Parlak, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, MuTurkey
mer Zorba, University of Abant zzet Baysal
kr Kurt, University of Adyaman

Recommended Citation:
Parlak, zgr; Zorba, mer; and Kurt, kr (2011) "Modelling with Response Surface
Methodology of the Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Some of the
Physical-Chemical and Sensory Properties of Beef Patties," International Journal of Food
Engineering: Vol. 7: Iss. 2, Article 1.
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.2004
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/ijfe/vol7/iss2/art1
2011 Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.

Modelling with Response Surface

Methodology of the Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg
White, and Sodium Carbonate on Some of the
Physical-Chemical and Sensory Properties of
Beef Patties
zgr Parlak, mer Zorba, and kr Kurt

Abstract
This study was accomplished to determine the effects of sodium carbonate, egg yolk, and egg
white powders on some of the physical-chemical and sensory properties of meat patties by using
central composite design of response surface methodology. Meat patties were prepared using beef,
lamb tail fat, and spices. Effects of the addition of egg yolk powder (0-1%), egg white powder
(0-1%), and sodium carbonate (0-1%) on pH, proximate composition, cooking yield, and sensory
properties were studied. The influence of egg yolk in the beef patties was found to be limited.
However, the effects of egg white and sodium carbonate were found to be significant on several
parameters. The levels of sodium carbonate up to 0.8% and egg white greater than 0.5% improved
the physical-chemical and sensory properties of beef patties.
KEYWORDS: beef patties, sodium carbonate, egg white, egg yolk, response surface
Author Notes: The authors are grateful to Yznc Yl University Research Fund (2008-FBEYL034), for its financial support of this research work.

Parlak et al.: Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Patties

INTRODUCTION
The type and the amount of additives in formulations of meat products are the
most important factors for product quality, technological properties, and consumer
health. Egg products can be widely used in foods and can improve gel forming
capability, water holding capacity, emulsification, and nutrition properties of
foods (Kiosseoglou, 2003). Although egg white and egg yolk are primarily known
for their sensory and nutritional value, they have important application in food
formulations, including their protein functionality (Linden and Lorrient, 1999;
Kiosseoglou, 2003; Kurt and Zorba, 2009). The technological properties of egg
products are more important than their nutritional properties for use in meat
products. They can affect the textural and sensory properties of meat patties
(Gujral et al., 2002).
Refined sodium carbonate is widely used in the food, feed,
pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. In the food industry, sodium carbonate is
used for pH arrangement in order to improve the textural properties of products. It
has a white, opaque, and crystalline structure. Its solution in water is clear,
colourless, and alkaline. Sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate can be used in
fish and emulsified meat products due to their alkaline properties (Ko0akowski et
al., 1994; Bechtel et al., 1989)
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of egg white, egg
yolk, and sodium carbonate on pH, cooking yield, proximate composition, and
sensory properties of beef patties using a central composite design.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Beef boneless rounds and lamb tail fat were obtained from a local market. Egg
white and egg yolk powders were obtained from AB foods (Istanbul Turkey).
Beef patty preparation
Meat and lamb tail fat pieces (~3 cm3 in size) were mixed and standardized to
15% fat. This mixture was minced in a grinder (Cem, :stanbul, Turkey). 1.5% salt,
3% bread crumb, 1% red pepper, 1% black pepper, 1% cumin, 0.5% thyme, and
5% onion were added to the minced meat and minced an additional two times in a
grinder. This formulation was mixed by manually and divided into 16 equal parts.
Egg white, egg yolk, and sodium carbonate were added to each part as shown in
Table 1. Each formulation was then kneaded for approximately 10 min to obtain
uniform meatball dough. Then, each piece of dough was shaped manually into
approximately 1.3 cm thick and 6 cm diameter circular-shaped beef patties. The
beef patties were cooked on a preheated electric grill (Tefal Largon) for
approximately 15 min at 180C and were flipped every 3 min.

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 7 [2011], Iss. 2, Art. 1

Table 1. Central composite design of three independent variables
Run
order
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Sodium
carbonate (%)
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5

Egg yolk
powder (%)
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0.5
0.5
0
1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5

Egg white
powder (%)
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0
1
0.5
0.5

Determination of pH
Ten grams of sample was homogenized in 100 ml distilled water and the pH was
measured using a pH meter (Consort R735, Belgium) equipped with temperature
probe as outlined by Ockerman (1985).
Determination of moisture, protein and fat content
Moisture, fat and protein were determined according to AOAC (2000). Protein
was determined as crude protein using the Kjeldahl method. Fat was determined
as crude fat using the Soxhelet extraction.
Determination of cooking yield
Cooking yield was determined as follows:
w1 100
w0
where w0 is the weight of beef patties before cooking and w1 is the weight after
cooking.
Cooking Yield (%) =

Sensory analysis
The cooked beef patties were cooled to room temperature and served in random
order. Eight semi-trained judges assessed the sensory properties using a hedonic
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DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.2004

Parlak et al.: Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Patties

scale for the appearance, texture, homogeneity, elasticity, flavour, brittleness,

juiciness, and acceptability. The values in the scale indicated the following range
of reactions: 0: dislike extremely to 5: like extremely.
Statistical analysis
The experimental design and statistical analysis were performed using JMP 4
Software (SAS Institute Inc.). The experiments were based on a central composite
design with a total of 16 combinations, including two replicates of the centre point
were carried out in random order.
Two replicates were performed for this study. The variance for each factor
assessed was partitioned into linear, quadratic, and interactive components and
was represented using a second order polynomial equation. The equation is:
Y=

0 +

k
i =1

i xi +

k
i =1

2
ii xii +

i =1 j =1
i< j

x xj

ij i

where Y is the estimated response, 0, i, ii, and ij are constant coefficients, k is

the number of factor variables, and xi, xii, and xixj represent the linear, quadratic
and interactive effects of the independent variables (sodium carbonate, egg white,
and egg yolk), respectively.
Table 2. Analysis of variance of the effects of sodium carbonate, egg yolk and egg white on
physical-chemical properties of beef patties
Sources of
Variation
X1 (SC)

pH
DF
1

F-value
605.819

**

Protein

Moisture

Fat

Yield

F-value

F-value

F-value

F-value

0.0647

0.0104

40.5774**

5.3069

X2 (Egg yolk)

0.275

0.0394

0.2132

0.6480

1.8405

X3 (Egg white)

0.181

0.0039

0.0433

0.1757

18.1017**

X1*X1

0.069

0.5244

0.0007

0.0146

6.9806*

X2*X1

0.002

0.9034

1.6418

0.1191

4.0368

X2*X2

0.872

0.3324

0.2872

0.1291

0.1125

X3*X1

0.185

0.0132

1.2322

0.3159

1.6574

X3*X2

1.085

0.0102

0.0229

0.0002

3.3314

X3*X3

1.377

0.1603

0.2771

0.0566

0.4663

Lack of fit

1.560

0.2821

0.1601

0.0979

0.7031

C. total

31

**

: P<0.01 significance level, *: P<0.05 significance level, DF: Degrees of Freedom, SC: Sodium carbonate

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 7 [2011], Iss. 2, Art. 1

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

pH, protein content, and cooking yield of beef patties
The linear effect of the sodium carbonate on pH was found to be significant
(p<0.01; Table 2). pH increased as sodium carbonate increased (Fig. 1). This
increase in pH could result from the alkaline characteristic of sodium carbonate.

Figure 1. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg yolk on pH of beef patties

The linear effect of the sodium carbonate on protein values was found to
be significant (p<0.05; Table 2). As shown in Figure 2, protein contents decreased
with an increase in sodium carbonate. This effect may be related to the increased
pH. When pH moves furthers away from the isoelectric point of the muscle
proteins, the net electric charge increases. It can cause an increase in solubility
and water holding capacity of proteins (Zorba et al., 1993a, 1993b). The
decreasing in protein content may be related to an increase in protein solubility
and relative moisture content.
Cooking yield was significantly (p<0.01; Table 2) affected with the
addition of sodium carbonate and egg white. Sodium carbonate levels up to 0.8%
increased cooking yield and then decreased (Fig. 3). However, the increased
levels of egg white also increased cooking yield. This effect of egg white may be
related to its hydrophilic properties. Also, heat treatment affects protein properties,
allowing protein-protein interactions, which cause a stronger protein matrix (Zorba

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Parlak et al.: Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Patties

and Kurt, 2006). During gel formation, the protein matrix can retain some
components inside it (Ziegler and Acton, 1984; Ker and Toledo, 1992).
The technological properties of meat products are strictly related to the
physicochemical properties of their proteins (Zorba and Kurt, 2006). An important
functional characteristic of proteins is gel forming ability. Myofibril proteins play an
important role in gel formation, which contributes to the desirable texture and fatwater stabilization in meat products (Ziegler and Acton, 1984).
The effects of egg white, egg yolk, and sodium carbonate on moisture and
fat values of cooked beef patties were not found to be statistically significant
(p>0.05; Table 2).
Sensory properties
The quadratic effects of egg white on appearance scores were found to be
significant (p<0.05, Table 3). Increasing levels of egg white up to 0.5% increased
appearance scores (Fig. 4). However, egg whites levels greater than 0.5%
decreased appearance scores. This phenomenon may be due to clot formation on
the surface of the patties.

Figure 2. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg yolk on protein content of beef patties

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 7 [2011], Iss. 2, Art. 1

Figure 3. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on cooking yield of beef patties

Figure 4. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on appearance of beef patties

The linear and quadratic effects of egg white were also found significant
(p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively) on texture scores (Table 3), as texture scores
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Parlak et al.: Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Patties

increased with increasing amounts of egg white until the egg white content was
0.5%; then they decreased (Fig. 5) which may be attributed to the resultant effect
of egg white on structural and functional changes in proteins. Elasticity,
brittleness, and juiciness scores increased as significantly sodium carbonate level
increase (Table 3, Fig. 6, 7, 8). However, higher sodium carbonate levels
decreased brittleness and juiciness values. The changes in the scores of texture,
elasticity, brittleness, and juiciness may be attributed to the result of the
behaviours of proteins. Sodium carbonate increased pH values, which may affect
the solubility of protein. Changes in pH values of muscle proteins improved the
textural quality and water-holding capability of meat products (Gkalp et al.,
1999). The changes in the muscle proteins led to gel formation, improving the
slicing ability of the meat products (Kerry et al., 2002).

Figure 5. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on texture of beef patties

The linear and quadratic effects of sodium carbonate and its interaction
with egg white on flavour scores were found to be significant (p<0.01, Table 3).
Flavour scores increased with increasing levels of sodium carbonate and then
decreased when the level of sodium carbonate rose above 0.6% (Fig. 9); this may
be attributed to the resultant effect of pH on proteolytic and lipolytic changes.
Cooking process increased taste and aroma components, such as nitrogenous
components and short-chain fatty acids, which originated from proteins and fats
(SerdaroMlu and DeMirmencioMlu, 2002). A complex series of thermally induced
reactions leading to a wide range of products determined the aroma attributes and
contributed most to the characteristic flavours of the meat (Mottram, 1998).
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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 7 [2011], Iss. 2, Art. 1

http://www.bepress.com/ijfe/vol7/iss2/art1
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.2004

Parlak et al.: Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Patties

Figure 6. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on elasticity of beef patties

Figure 7. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on brittleness of beef patties

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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 7 [2011], Iss. 2, Art. 1

Figure 8. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on juiciness of beef patties

Figure 9. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg yolk on flavour of beef patties

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Parlak et al.: Effects of Egg Yolk, Egg White, and Sodium Carbonate on Patties

The linear effects of sodium carbonate on acceptability scores were found

to be significant (p<0.01, Table 3). Moreover, the quadratic effects of sodium
carbonate and egg white on acceptability scores were significant (p<0.05, Table
3). Sodium carbonate up to 0.6% and egg white up to 0.5% increased acceptability
scores (Fig. 10).
The effects of sodium carbonate, egg white, and egg yolk on beef patties
are also expressed mathematically in Table 4. These predicted model equations
are useful for understanding levels of factors and the interactions among the
studied factors.

Figure 10. Effects of sodium carbonate and egg white on acceptability of beef patties

CONCLUSION
Increasing sodium carbonate levels up to 0.8% improved the properties of the beef
patties. This improvement was associated with increased pH as a result of adding
sodium carbonate. Egg white powder was more effective than egg yolk powder on
the beef patties. More than 0.5% of egg white powder improved the properties of
the beef patties. However, the effects of egg yolk powder on the beef patties were
found to be limited. Egg white powder was only effective in affecting flavour
scores in the range of 0.44-0.76%. As a conclusion, it can be use more than 0.5%
of egg white powder and by 0.8% of sodium carbonate should be used for more
desirable beef patties.
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International Journal of Food Engineering, Vol. 7 [2011], Iss. 2, Art. 1

Table 4. Predicted model equations for the effects of sodium carbonate (X1), egg yolk (X2) and
egg white (X3) on properties of beef patties
Parameters

Equations

pH

Y = 7.037 + 1.057X1 + 0.023X2 + 0.018X3 + 0.022X12 + 0.002X2X1 0.078X22 + 0.021X3X1 - 0.050X3X2 + 0.098X32
Y = 22.019 - 0.730X1 - 0.063X2 + 0.020X3 - 0.447X12 - 0.337X2X1 0.356X22 + 0.041X3X1 + 0.036X3X2 - 0.247X32
Y = 82.691 + 1.824X1 - 0.389X2 + 1.218X3 - 1.474X12 - 0.643X2X1 0.187X22 - 0.412X3X1 - 0.584X3X2 + 0.389X32
Y = 3.887 - 0.036X1 - 0.060X2 - 0.003X3 - 0.072X12 + 0.004X2X1 0.006X22 + 0.032X3X1 - 0.029X3X2 - 0.242X32
Y = 3.750 + 0.090X1 + 0.036X2 - 0.099X3 - 0.076X12 - 0.030X2X1 +
0.153X22 - 0.067X3X1 + 0.037X3X2 - 0.257X32
Y = 3.712 + 0.151X1 + 0.005X2 + 0.019X3 - 0.083X12 - 0.064X2X1 0.094X22 - 0.036X3X1 + 0.007X3X2 - 0.145X32
Y = 3.677 + 0.265X1 - 0.054X2 - 0.015X3 - 0.355X12 - 0.135X2X1 +
0.062X22 - 0.036X3X1 - 0.029X3X2 - 0.063X32
Y = 3.723 + 0.096X1 - 0.044X2 - 0.030X3 - 0.300X12 + 0.015X2X1 +
0.158X22 - 0.037X3X1 + 0.036X3X2 - 0.151X32

Protein
Cooking yield
Appearance
Texture
Elasticity
Flavour
Brittleness

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