Quality Improvement of Frozen and Chilled Beef biceps femoris with the Application of Salt-bicarbonate Solution

The effects of salt and bicarbonate solution on overall meat quality in beef biceps femoris muscle were investigated with the application of chilling and freezing conditions. Muscles were injected to a target of 120% of original meat weight with a solution containing 1.2 M sodium chloride, 0.25 M sodium bicarbonate and 0.1% ascorbic acid (pH 7.2). Half of the meat samples, considered as chill treatment and chill control, were stored at $4^{\circ}C$ up to five days; while the other half, frozen treatment and frozen control, were kept in a freezer at $-20^{\circ}C$ for seven days. Compared with untreated control, treated meats had higher water holding capacity (p<0.05), lower drip loss (p<0.05) and lower shear force (p<0.07) with higher overall acceptability (p<0.05) in sensory evaluation. Morphological observations demonstrated smooth and gummy meat surface due to the solubilization of myofibrillar proteins and the distortion of connective tissue in treated raw meats; and in the case of cooked meat, treatment caused the fragmentation of myofibrils, which might be responsible for a lower shear value in salt-bicarbonate treated beef biceps femoris muscle.