Beef jerky is made by drying fresh beef. During drying, the beef loses \(60\%\) of its original mass as water evaporates. Assume no protein is lost. A \(4\,\text{oz}\) portion of fresh beef contains about \(22\,\text{g}\) of protein.
a) How many grams of protein are in \(4\,\text{oz}\) of the finished beef jerky?
b) By what percent did the protein concentration, measured as protein per \(4\,\text{oz}\), change during drying?
c) Compare this process with cooking pasta. Why does the protein per \(4\,\text{oz}\) increase for jerky but decrease for cooked pasta?
Hints
- Find the mass that remains after a \(60\%\) loss.
- The protein remains while the water leaves.
- Scale the protein in the smaller jerky portion to a \(4\,\text{oz}\) portion.
- Compare losing water with absorbing water.
Solution
1. After losing \(60\%\) of its mass, the \(4\,\text{oz}\) portion becomes \(4\,\text{oz} \cdot 0.40 = 1.6\,\text{oz}\) of jerky.
2. The \(22\,\text{g}\) of protein remains in the \(1.6\,\text{oz}\) of jerky.
3. Scale to \(4\,\text{oz}\): \(\frac{22\,\text{g}}{1.6\,\text{oz}} \cdot 4\,\text{oz} = 55\,\text{g}\).
4. The protein amount per \(4\,\text{oz}\) rises from \(22\,\text{g}\) to \(55\,\text{g}\), an increase of \(33\,\text{g}\). The percent increase is \(\frac{33}{22} = 1.5 = 150\%\).
5. Drying removes water and concentrates the protein, while cooking pasta adds water and spreads the protein through a greater mass.
Answer
a) \(55\,\text{g}\)
b) An increase of \(150\%\)
c) Jerky loses water and mass, while pasta gains water and mass.