Development of tasty marinating kit for tenderization and preservation of beef chuck

Chuck is the biggest and one of the tougher cut of beef carcass. By improving the tenderness of chuck meat it can have a higher value to the consumer. The study was conducted to know the efficacy of tasty kit (containing 1.2 M sodium chloride, 0.25 M sodium bicarbonate and 0.1% ascorbic acid) as a meat preservation and tenderization technique during freezing. Beef chucks from four native bulls were collected from a local market and divided into two groupsone was treated with tasty kit and the other kept as control. Both the treated and untreated meats were well packed and kept in freezer at –20 °C for a month. Compared to the untreated group, higher moisture content was found in treated raw and cooked meat (p<0.05). Significantly lower protein content (p<0.05) in treated cooked meat may be resulted from the solubilization of myofibrillar protein by salt and bicarbonate. Treated meat had a higher water-holding capacity (p<0.05), lower drip loss (p<0.05) and lower cook loss (p<0.01). During a sensory test, panellists gave significantly higher values for general appearance (p<0.01), flavour (p<0.05), colour (p<0.05), tenderness (p<0.01), juiciness (p<0.01) saltiness (p<0.01) and overall acceptability (p<0.01). It is suggested that tough chuck meat may be successfully tenderized with the salt-bicarbonate marinating technique before freezing. (Bangl. vet. 2009. Vol. 26, No. 1, 23-30) Introduction Freezing has been an excellent preserving technique for meat and its products for long time. The quality and safety of frozen meat depends upon rapid freezing, continuous electricity supply, temperature stability, good freezer management, proper packaging and cleanliness before freezing. Unfortunately most of those points have not been followed in Bangladesh because of ignorance, unawareness, and unavailable materials or techniques. Beef can be preserved well in frozen for about 12 month without preservatives or cryoprotectants, but with poor procedures the quality of meat deteriorates within a few days. Freezing procedures influence thawing loss, colour and tenderness (Farouk and Swan, 1998; Honikel et al., 1986). Freezing also affects cooking loss (Farouk et al., 2003), which is influenced by meat quality. The effects on nutrient and quality characteristics of meat of pH, freezer storage, thawing and cooking procedures and the interaction between these factors have not been fully elucidated. Such knowledge is a prerequisite for establishing guidelines for the meat processing industry. * Correspondence: E-mail:[email protected] 24 Marinating kit for tenderization and preservation of beef Cuts of beef vary in their characteristics. The most valued cuts come from the loin and rib areas, which represent only 26% of the total carcass (Savell and Smith, 2000). However this finding is from US carcasses, and similar information is not available for indigenous cattle in Bangladesh. Chuck is the biggest portion coming from the shoulder part of beef carcass, but due to a lot of connective tissue is the toughest portion. The warner-bratzler shear force value of chuck cut is about 5.2 kg (Gary and Chris, 2007) and there is a less demand for it in the market. Tenderising would increase consumer demand, at the same time it is necessary to develop techniques for freezing meat well. The present study was undertaken (a) to develop a marinating kit for meat preservation and tenderization; (b) to test its efficacy during freezing; and (c) to measure the nutrient content and quality of meat after marinating and freezing. Materials and Methods Sample collection and preparation Samples were collected from the chuck portions of indigenous bull carcasses about 2 to 2.5 years of age. Just after slaughtering the animal, the samples were transported to the meat laboratory, and kept at 10 to 12○C for about four hours. After removing the fat, ligaments and tendons from the muscles, they were randomly divided into two groups for each of the three replicated experiments. One group was marinated, the control group was not. Preparation and application of kit solution The kit was a solution containing 1.2 M sodium chloride, 0.25 M sodium bicarbonate and 0.1% ascorbic acid. The solution was injected into the meat, with a target of 120% of original weight. Preservation of samples After marinating the treated samples, both groups of samples were tumbled 200 times by hand, wrapped in plastic paper and preserved at –20°C for one month. Measurement of nutrients The moisture, protein and fat contents of meat samples were determined according to AOAC (1980). Measurement of pH For measuring pH, 5 g samples were minced with a home blender using stirrer for 30 seconds with 10 ml of distilled water in a 20 ml test tube. The pH of homogenate was measured using an electrical automatic pH meter (METTLER TOLEDO, MP230, Switzerland). The pH of frozen meats was measured just after thawing.