Needle-free injection enhancement of beef strip loins with phosphate and salt has potential to improve yield, tenderness, and juiciness but harm texture and flavor

摘要

Meat tenderness is the most important palatability attribute affecting consumers’overall eating experience. Injection enhancement and blade tenderization have longbeen used to improve this important trait. Injection enhancement has been shown toimprove tenderness, juiciness, color stability, and cooking yield, but not all solutionshave been adequately evaluated. Thus, there is a need to conduct research on the effectivenessof common enhancement solutions. We published results from an extensivestudy comparing a solution of phosphate, salt, and rosemary with a solution of calciumlactate and rosemary injected by using traditional needle injection. There were no differencesin Warner-Bratzler shear force values between treatments, but trained panelistsscored steaks enhanced with calcium lactate and rosemary to be less tender and juicythan steaks enhanced with phosphate, salt, and rosemary. However, steaks enhancedwith the phosphate solution had a higher incidence of metallic and salty off-flavors,a darker initial color, and more color deterioration. Because needle-free injectionenhancement is relatively similar to traditional needle-injection enhancement withregard to food safety, it should be evaluated for its effects on meat color, instrumentaltenderness, sensory traits, and yields.Objectives of this research were to determine the effects of injection method (needlefreevs. needle injection) and solution (calcium lactate vs. phosphate solution) on meatcolor, instrumental tenderness, sensory traits, pump yield, and cooking loss of beefLongissimus lumborum muscles.