THE EFFECT OF ORGANIC ACID MARINATION ON TENDERNESS, COOKING LOSS AND BOUND WATER CONTENT OF BEEF

ABSTRACT Longissimus muscle obtained from beef carcasses was used in this research. Initially, 0.596, 1.0% and 1.5% lactic and citric acid solutions were prepared. Meat was marinated in these solutions (1:4 w/v) in polyethylene bags at 4C for 72h. Bound water, pH, weight gain, cooking loss and Warner Bratzler shear (WBS) were evaluated. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to determine the bound water content in meat samples. The latent heat of melting (ΔH m ) and bound water were found to be functions of moisture content of marinated meat. There was a significant decrease in pH due to marination. Compared to lactic acid, the samples marinated with citric acid held less water. The WS values in control samples were higher than in marinated samples. Cooking loss was lower in samples marinated with lactic acid compared to citric acid marinated samples.