FOOD SCIENCE ›› 2012, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (23): 121-124.

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Effect and Mechanism of Fermentation on Beef Muscle Tenderness

  

  • Received:2011-10-13 Revised:2012-11-11 Online:2012-12-15 Published:2012-12-12

Abstract: The objective of this study was to explore the improving effect and mechanism of fermentation on beef muscle tenderness. Beef semitendinosus (ST) was cut into 5 × 5 × 3 cm blocks. After adding 3.0% NaCl, 2.0% glucose and 0.02% Lactobacillus powder (lg(14 CFU/g)), the blocks were fermented at 10 ℃ under oxygen-free conditions. The fermented beef was subjected to physicochemical analysis on the 0, 2nd, 4th and 6th days. The pH and shear force revealed a significant decrease (P<0.05) with increasing fermentation time. Atomic force microscopic observation revealed a significant increase in myofibril fragmentation. As shown by SDS-PAGE, 24 kD myofibrillar proteins were decomposed. These results suggested that fermentation could lead to denaturation of beef muscle myofibrillar proteins and improve beef tenderness.

Key words: beef muscle, fermentation, tenderness improvement, mechanism analysis

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