Healthier meatballs may soon be on the menu - and you can thank New York state apple trees for that .
Cornell researchers have come up with a recipe for meatballs that includes up to 20% apple scraps, aka pomace — without affecting taste.
Elad Tako, associate professor of food science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at University and Tako Lab first-year PhD student Peter Gracey focused on incorporating apple pomace into beef meatballs to reduce meat consumption and improve nutritional value.
Gracey says New York State produces 600,000 metric tons of apples annually, and 25% of the fuit is left over after being processed for products like juice and cider.
“I went to a local cidery here in upstate New York, and they showed us the process of how they press the apples and get as much of the juice out of the fruit as possible," said Gracecy. "One of the challenges we found was that it was difficult for the pumice to be food grade. So we decided to use the agritech campus up in Geneva, New York to create our own Apple pomace. We freeze dried that pumice grounded onto a fine powder to have it as an ingredient, food grade, and be able to go directly into the meatballs."
Gracey read studies of other researchers' experiments involving use of grape pomace in meat products and thought, perhaps, apple pomace could serve as a healthy, eco-friendly meat additive.
"Red meat has no fiber to speak of, but we have this ingredient that has up to 40% dietary fiber in it There has been research that's shown that the Western diet has a distinct lack of fiber in it. So if we can merge a product that is well known, a medium like beef meatballs, with a high fiber product like apple pomace, not only does it support a waste of cycle stream, but it also can have those fiber health benefits," Gracey said.
From a climate perspective, researchers agree keeping pomace out of landfills curbs methane emissions and reduces the environmental footprint of juice and cider production.
But how does it taste? More than 100 people were recruited to sample two versions of 80% lean ground beef meatballs, one containing 10% pomace, the other 20%. Even with a small amount of internal color change to the meatballs, no one noticed any difference.
Tako says pomace offers many enhancements to meatballs.
"Pomace is very rich in different bioactives that are associated with multiple health benefits, like different polyphenols, for example, that are often referred to as antioxidants," said Tako. "The other thing is that it also slows down degradation of the product. So for example, in many meat products, we add different stabilizers that are supposed to extend their shelf life. In this case, we're using something that is natural, that basically slows down this process."
With the price of beef soaring, Tako says apples in your meatballs could lower your grocery bill.
"Prices are, are it's already expensive, and it's not going to slow down. So absolutely, by using an upcycled material that currently is it's mostly waste. Some of the pomace may be used for, for animal feed, may be used for, you know, like compost. Absolutely, if you're going to replace 20% of the of the meat with pomace, and you're still going to like it, so not only you're gaining the additional nutritional benefits, but also, and potentially, this product is going to be cheaper," Tako said.
How long before the pomaced meatballs appear on your table? Gracey and Tako say the challenge right now is to create the supply chain. Although New York processes tons of apple waste, the pomace currently available is not food grade, so tweaks would have to be made at processing facilities to make pomace ready to use in a human food product. But for now, Cornell researchers have planted the seed.
