The objective was to determine the influence of calcium lactate/phosphate enhancement on quality of beef round cuts in high-oxygen modified atmosphere (HiOx-MAP; 80% O2/20% CO2). Mm. semimembranosus (SM), semitendinosus (ST), and adductor (AD) were divided and assigned to water-injected control (CON), 3mM phosphate (STP), or 200mM calcium lactate/3mM phosphate (CAL/STP) treatments at 24h postmortem. Steaks (n=10) were vacuum packaged (VAC) and stored for 9days, then displayed for 7days in VAC or HiOx-MAP. Lipid oxidation, pH, surface color, star probe, and sensory characteristics were evaluated. HiOx-MAP resulted in greater lipid oxidation, more discoloration, and decreased sensory quality of steaks (P<0.05) compared to VAC. However, CAL/STP enhancement significantly reduced lipid oxidation of all steaks, decreased ST and SM star probe values, and improved tenderness of HiOx-MAP packaged AD and SM (P<0.05). Results suggest that CAL/STP enhancement has beneficial effects on lipid stability and sensory attributes of beef round cuts under HiOx-MAP.
Keywords: Beef; Calcium lactate; Meat quality; Modified atmosphere packaging; Oxidation.
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