Effects of potassium lactate, sodium metasilicate, peroxyacetic acid, and acidified sodium chlorite on physical, chemical, and sensory properties of ground beef patties

A current review of U.S. beef flavor II: Managing beef flavor

Beef flavor continues to be one of the largest drivers of beef demand and a differentiation point of beef from other competing proteins. Tenderness has long been identified as the most important palatability trait for consumer satisfaction. However, as technological advancements and industry practices evolve and improve in response to tenderness management, flavor has emerged as a key driver of consumer satisfaction. In response, the beef industry has recently invested in research focused on beef flavor development, measurement, and management to better understand the factors impacting flavor and help beef maintain this advantage. The current review paper is the second of two such papers focused on summarizing the present knowledge and identifying knowledge gaps. While the other review focuses on current practices related to beef flavor measurement, this review will cover research findings related to beef flavor management. Numerous production and product management factors influence beef flavor. Pre-harvest factors including marbling level, animal genetics/cattle type, diet, and animal age, can influence beef flavor. Moreover, numerous post-harvest product management factors, including product type, aging length and conditions, cookery methods, product enhancement, muscle-specific factors, packaging, retail display factors, and antimicrobial interventions, have all been evaluated for their impact on beef flavor characteristics. Results from numerous studies evaluating many of these factors will be outlined within this review in order to present management and production chain factors that can influence beef flavor.

Comprehensive Effects of Potassium Lactate, Calcium Ascorbate and Magnesium Chloride as Alternative Salts on Physicochemical Properties, Sensory Characteristics and Volatile Compounds in Low-Sodium Marinated Beef

The search for alternative salt formulations similar to sodium chloride and their effect on marinated meat products is of great significance to the low-sodium meat processing industry. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of partially replacing sodium chloride with potassium lactate, calcium ascorbate, and magnesium chloride on the sodium content, water activity and distribution, protein solubility, microstructure, sensory characteristics and volatile flavor compounds in low-sodium marinated beef. The sodium content in the test group decreased up to 28% compared to 100% in the sodium chloride group C1. The formulation including 60% sodium chloride and a total of 40% compound alternative salts in groups F1 and F2 increased their myofibril fragmentation index and promoted the disruption of the myogenic fiber structure. Group F1 (the ratio of potassium lactate, calcium ascorbate and magnesium chloride was 2:1:1) performed higher solubility of myofibrillar proteins and lower transverse relaxation value than group F2 detected by low-field nuclear magnetic resonance, which indicated that F1 formulation was beneficial to promote the solubility of myofibrillar proteins and attenuate the water mobility of marinated beef. Moreover, group F1 had a more similar microstructure and more similar overall sensory attributes to group C1 according to the scanning electron microscopy. The sensory evaluation showed higher peak intensity and response values of volatile flavor compounds than group C1 and C2 (only 60% sodium chloride) when detected using gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry technology, which indicated that the compound alternative salts of group F1 can improve the lower quality of low-sodium marinated beef and perform similar attributes to the C1 sample regarding moisture distribution and microstructure and even performs better than it with regards to flavor. Therefore, the F1 formula possessed greater potential for application in low-sodium marinated meat products.

1H NMR Reveals the Mechanism of Potassium Lactate on Proteolysis and Taste Metabolites of Rugao Ham

To deepen the understanding of the effect of potassium lactate on the taste of Rugao ham, proteolysis index, enzyme activities and protein degradation of Rugao ham salted with potassium lactate (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%) were investigated. Metabolites of Rugao ham were identified by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and the metabolic pathways of the key metabolites were enriched by the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG); the relationship between taste and metabolites was assessed by partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The hams with 2% potassium lactate showed lower cathepsin B and L activities, and higher aminopeptidase activities than that of the control group. The contents of free amino acids and organic acids significantly increased from the control to the treatment of 2% potassium lactate. PLS-DA further demonstrated that aspartate, glutamate, alanine, serine, threonine, acetate, lactate, succinate, carnosine, β-glucose and glycerol were the key metabolites to improve the taste of Rugao ham in the treatment of 2% potassium lactate. Metabolic pathways analysis further demonstrated that amino acids metabolism was the main pathway for the taste development of Rugao ham.

Nitrites in Cured Meats, Health Risk Issues, Alternatives to Nitrites: A Review

Nitrite is one of the most widely used curing ingredients in meat industries. Nitrites have numerous useful applications in cured meats and a vital component in giving cured meats their unique characteristics, such as their pink color and savory flavor. Nitrites are used to suppress the oxidation of lipid and protein in meat products and to limit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms such as Clostridium botulinum. Synthetic nitrite is frequently utilized for curing due to its low expenses and easier applications to meat. However, it is linked to the production of nitrosamines, which has raised several health concerns among consumers regarding its usage in meat products. Consumer desire for healthier meat products prepared with natural nitrite sources has increased due to a rising awareness regarding the application of synthetic nitrites. However, it is important to understand the various activities of nitrite in meat curing for developing novel substitutes of nitrites. This review emphasizes on the effects of nitrite usage in meat and highlights the role of nitrite in the production of carcinogenic nitrosamines as well as possible nitrite substitutes from natural resources explored also.

Nair M, Hernandez-Sintharakao MJ, Geornaras I, Engle T, Belk KE, Woerner DR. Changes in the flavor profile of ground beef resulting from the application of antimicrobial interventions

The objective of this study was to characterize flavor, fatty acid composition, and volatile compounds of beef treated with common antimicrobial interventions in beef processing facilities. The effect of three pre-chilling antimicrobial interventions (4.5% lactic acid, LA; 400ppm peroxyacetic acid acidified to pH 1.2 with a sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate blend, aPAA; or untreated, CON) and four post-chilling treatments (CON; LA; aPAA; or a 2.5% solution of a commercial blend of lactic and citric acid, LAC) were analyzed. Briskets (n=30/treatment) were treated in a 3x4 factorial arrangement of pre- and post-chilling interventions using a custom-built pilot-sized spray cabinet, ground twice, and formed into patties. Cooked patties were analyzed by a trained sensory panel, and a subset of raw samples (N=72, n=6) were analyzed for fatty acid composition and volatile compounds. Trained taste panelist ratings for sour and chemical were rated highest (P < 0.01) for the LA pre-chilling treatment compared to CON and aPAA. Ratings for browned attributes were greater (P < 0.05) for samples subjected to aPAA than CON or LA samples. No differences (P > 0.05) were found for beef flavor ID, roasted, metallic, fat-like, rancid, warmed over, or liver-like ratings due to the pre-chilling treatments. Post-chilling treatments did not create any significant (P > 0.05) flavor attribute differences. Fatty acid analysis showed minimal differences due to the use of chemical interventions, and only C10:0 was affected by LAC treatment post-chilling, with greater (P < 0.05) concentrations of C10:0 compared to LA-treated samples.  Among the volatile compounds, the relative abundance of pentanal was greater (P < 0.05) in LA-treated post-chilling intervention samples than in the other treatments. Overall, these results demonstrated that the pre-chilling antimicrobial interventions impacted ground beef flavor, whereas the pre- and post-chilling antimicrobial treatments had minimal impact on fatty acid and volatile compounds.

Chemistry, Safety, and Challenges of the Use of Organic Acids and Their Derivative Salts in Meat Preservation

Meat industries are constantly facing new waves of changes in the consumer’s nutritional trends, food safety, and quality requirements and legislations leading to an increase in interest for meat biopreservation to respond to all of these modern socioeconomic demands. Hence, to replace synthetic and/or expensive additives, new technologies in preserving meat products from microbial contamination have been established. In this context, organic acids and their salts have been considered as the most popular examples of preservatives that offer several advantages to be applied in meat industry. Here, characteristics of organic acids/salts commonly used in meat preservation were described based on the published literature. Moreover, after outlining the challenges and advantages of their use in meat industry, their current applications as meat preservatives on various meat type matrices such as beef, pork, sheep, and poultry were quite exposed based on previous and recent research works. Then, different application types were highlighted. Besides, some potent synergistic approaches based on several combinations of organic acids/salts with different existing preservative techniques are reported with an emphasised discussion of their application as possible solution tools to mainly overcome some problems linked to organic acids/salts when used solely, thus contributing to ensure the overall safety and improve the quality of meats. Finally, despite their usefulness in meat preservation, organic acids/salts may possess detrimental traits. In this context, a detailed discussion on their limits of use in meat products was provided in the last section of this paper.

Impact of a Combination of UV-C Irradiation and Peracetic Acid Spray Treatment on Brochothrix thermosphacta and Yersinia enterocolitica Contaminated Pork

Efficient ways of decontamination are needed to minimize the risk of infections with Yersinia (Y.) enterocolitica, which causes gastrointestinal diseases in humans, and to reduce the numbers of Brochothrix (B.) thermosphacta to extend the shelf-life of meat. While many studies have focused on a single treatment of peracetic acid (PAA) or UV-C-irradiation, there are no studies about a combined treatment on meat. Therefore, in the present study, pork was inoculated with either Y. enterocolitica or B. thermosphacta, and was treated with a combination of 2040 mJ/cm² UV-C irradiation followed by a 2000 ppm PAA spray treatment (30 s). Samples were packed under modified atmosphere and stored for 1, 7, or 14 days. The samples were examined for Y. enterocolitica and B. thermosphacta content, chemical and sensory effects, and meat quality parameters. For Y. enterocolitica, a significant reduction of up to 2.16 log₁₀ cfu/cm² meat and for B. thermosphacta, up to 2.37 log₁₀ cfu/cm² meat was seen on day 14 after UV-C/PAA treatment compared to the untreated controls.

Evaluation of the effect of neutral electrolyzed water and peroxyacetic acid alone and in combination on microbiological, chemical, and sensory characteristics of poultry meat during refrigeration storage

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of near-neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) (100 and 200 µg/ml), peroxyacetic acid (PAA) (200 and 400 µg/ml), and their combination (NEW 100 µg/ml + PAA 200 µg/ml) on microbial quality, pH, TBARS value, and sensory quality of fresh chicken breast meat dipped into the solutions for 10 min at room temperature. Meat samples were tested immediately after treatments and on days 2, 4, and 6 of storage at 4℃. All treatments were effective in reducing microbial populations throughout the storage (P < 0.05), with combined treatment showing the strongest antimicrobial activity. On the sixth day of storage, the aerobic plate counts, psychrophilic plate count, Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, and Pseudomonas counts in the NEW 100 µg/ml + PAA 200 µg/ml group were 1.33, 1.40, 1.45, 1.01, and 1.45 log CFU/g, respectively, which was lower than the control group (P < 0.05). In all treatments, the pH value of meat samples increased with storage time. During 6 days of storage, PAA400 group had the lowest increase in pH value (P < 0.05). On day 6, the combined treatment and PAA 400 µg/ml had the lowest lipid oxidation (P < 0.05). On day 6, the NEW100 + PAA200 group obtained the highest score in sensory attributes compared to other treatment groups (P < 0.05). According to the microbial and chemical analysis, the combined treatment of NEW and PAA can be a promising method to extend the shelf life of chicken by about 2 days at 4℃. Also, these compounds do not contain any harmful residues in chicken breast meat and their use is recommended in decontamination of poultry meat.

Effects of buffered vinegar and sodium dodecyl sulfate plus levulinic acid on Salmonella Typhimurium survival, shelf-life, and sensory characteristics of ground beef patties

The inclusion of two sources of buffered vinegar and sodium dodecyl sulfate plus levulinic acid were studied as interventions for Salmonella Typhimurium and for their effect on shelf-life and sensory characteristics of ground beef. For the Salmonella challenge, beef trimmings (80/20) were inoculated then treated with 2% (w/v) liquid buffered vinegar (LVIN), 2.5% (w/w) powdered buffered vinegar (PVIN), a solution containing 1.0% levulinic acid plus 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDLA) at 10% (w/v), or had no intervention applied (CNT). The same trim source and production methods were followed during production of patties for shelf-life and sensory testing without inoculation. SDLA patties had the largest reduction (P<0.05; 0.70 log CFU/g) of Salmonella. However, LVIN and PVIN had the least (P<0.05) psychrotrophic growth. SDLA patties had more purge (P<0.05) and lower (P<0.05) subjective color scores. There were not large differences in sensory characteristics, except PVIN exhibited stronger off-flavor (P<0.05).

Role of peroxyacetic acid, octanoic acid, malic acid, and potassium lactate on the microbiological and instrumental color characteristics of ground beef

This study evaluated the effects of peroxyacetic acid (PAA), malic acid (MA), octanoic acid (OA), and potassium lactate (KL) followed by mixing with trisodium phosphate (TSP) and an ultra-chilled CO₂ snow shower on microbial counts of Escherichia coli (EC), coliform (CF), aerobic plate count (APC), and Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) on inoculated beef trimmings and the instrumental color attributes of the resultant ground beef. Beef trimmings inoculated with EC and ST were treated with either 0.02% PAA; 2% MA; 0.04% OA; or 2% KL, followed by mixing with 10% TSP and rapid chilling with CO₂ snow shower. Treated trimmings were then ground, packaged, displayed under simulated retail conditions, and sampled on days 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 for microbial counts and instrumental color characteristics. PAA, MA, OA, and KL reduced (P < 0.05) the microbial counts of EC, CF, APC, and ST during display. Among treatments, OA was most effective on EC, CF, ST, and APC during retail display. Chilling beef trimmings with CO₂ improved instrumental color characteristics of the produced ground beef but made little difference in reducing microbial counts during display. During retail display, ground beef produced from beef trimmings treated with antimicrobials tended to maintain redness, myoglobin redox form stability (630 nm/580 nm), and overall instrumental color characteristics.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

This research provides a practical and cost-effective decontamination technology for beef processors that can be immediately implemented in the ground beef production chain. Using antimicrobial intervention coupled with rapid chilling could benefit the meat industry by preserving the quality attributes of ground beef during retail display under aerobic packaging environment.

Effect of sodium citrate plus sodium diacetate or buffered vinegar on quality attributes of enhanced beef top sirloins

As new pathogen intervention products come to market, it is important to ensure that they maintain or improve meat quality. Shelf-life and palatability traits were measured for top sirloins enhanced to 110% with solutions containing 0.5% sodium chloride and 0.4% sodium tripolyphosphate (CNT); CNT with a 1% solution of 80% sodium citrate plus 20% sodium diacetate (SC+D); or CNT with 2% buffered vinegar (VIN) in the final product. Enhancement solution did not influence color over 7days of retail display, except VIN was subjectively more red than CNT and SC+D on d 7 and SC+D had less discoloration than CNT on d 7 (P<0.05). VIN was rated lower (P<0.05) than CNT for trained sensory tenderness and there was no difference in shear force between treatments. SC+D and VIN show promise for use in beef enhancement solutions, however, further sensory studies are warranted.

Hypochlorous and peracetic acid induced oxidation of dairy proteins

Hypochlorous and peracetic acids, both known disinfectants in the food industry, were compared for their oxidative capacity toward dairy proteins. Whey proteins and caseins were oxidized under well controlled conditions at pH 8 as a function of the sanitizing concentration. Different markers for protein oxidation were monitored. The results established that the protein carbonyl content was a rather unspecific marker for protein oxidation, which did not allow one to differentiate the oxidant used especially at the lower concentrations. Cysteine, tryptophan, and methionine were proven to be the most vulnerable amino acids for degradation upon hypochlorous and peracetic acid treatment, while tyrosine was only prone to degradation in the presence of hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid induced oxidation gave rise to protein aggregation, while during peracetic acid induced oxidation, no high molecular weight aggregates were observed. Protein aggregation upon hypochlorous acid oxidation could primarily be linked to tryptophan and tyrosine degradation.

Effect of ozone and potassium lactate on lipid oxidation and survival of Salmonella typhimurium on fresh pork

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of ozone gas and potassium lactate on lipid oxidation and survival of Salmonella typhimurium on fresh pork. A total of 144 samples of fresh pork samples were cut into pieces approximately (8x5x0.6) cm in size, then (0, 2 and 4%) potassium lactate (KL), inoculated with S. typhimurium was applied by spreading a 0.5 mL cell suspension over each sample. The pork samples were then packed in (6"x8") airtight polyethylene bags with a thickness of 87.5 microm and a volume of 3.5 L with and without ozone. Ozone gas was injected into the plastic bags at a rate of 0, 200, 500 and 1,000 mg h(-1) and the samples later stored at 8 degrees C. Thio-barbituric Acid Reactive Substance (TBARS) and microbial loads were determined on days 0, 5, 10 and 15. Data was statistically analyzed using SPSS software and differences among means detected at the 0.5% confident level using the Scheffe's test. Samples treated with 2 and 4% KL had significantly (p<0.01) lower TBARS value than non-treated samples. Combination of ozone and KL showed inhibitory effects on S. typhimurium in samples. S. typhimurium was sensitive to 4% KL with and without ozone. At 1,000 mg h(-1), ozone improved KL inhibitory effect on S. typhimurium. Ozone and KL are potential substances for inhibition of S. typhimurium.