Authors:

Varisra Upatising

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About Paper:

Water-holding capacity (WHC) is the ability of meat to retain moisture and resist water loss from protein denaturation or physical damage. Postmortem aging is a widely adopted post-harvest practice in the meat industry to improve tenderness. While the mechanism by which aging improves tenderness is well-understood, the relationship between WHC and postmortem aging is not fully established. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aging on the WHC and reabsorption capability of beef loins. Strip loins (M. longissimus lumborum; n=60) were collected from both carcass sides from 30 USDA. Top Choice grade beef carcasses at two days postmortem. The loins were divided into four groups, and randomly assigned to different postmortem aging times (2, 7, 14, or 21d). After each assigned aging time, the beef samples underwent compression and centrifugal drip loss to determine WHC. Chemical assays including pH, MFI, and protein solubility were conducted. The statistical analysis was performed by mixed model using SAS software (SAS 9.4, Cary, NC, USA) with a significance level of 0.05. Compression drip loss and centrifugal drip loss of fresh meat were the highest at 2d (p<0.05), and there was no difference between 7d, 14d, and 21d (p>0.05). Compression and centrifugal drip loss of rehydrated beef samples decreased with aging time (p<0.05). The results of this study showed that postmortem aging could improve the WHC and reabsorption capability of meat. Further trials investigating the underlying mechanisms by which postmortem aging would improve reabsorption capability of muscles will be warranted.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

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Co-authors:

Varisra Upatising