Abstract:

Seven beef semitendinosus muscles were conducted salting process (NaCl of 2%, 4% and 6%) or salting combined with ultrasonic treatment, and then preserved for 4 days at 4 ℃. Composition change of fatty acids, such as neutral lipid (NL), polar lipid (PL) and total lipid (TL) were determined thereafter. Results showed that salting resulted in a significant increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in NL and TL, which correspondingly improved the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acid to saturated fatty acid (p/s) and significantly decreased the index of atherosclerosis (IA) and the index of thrombosis (IT). However, salting combined with ultrasonic treatment provided a significant enhancement in the increase of PUFA and p/s ratio, compared with the treatment of alone salting. Moreover, salting with 2% NaCl combined with ultrasonic treatment achieved a similar effect on p/s ratio improvement as the salting in 6% NaCl solution. Therefore, salting in low NaCl solution combined with ultrasonic treatment can offer healthy and nutrition-rich beef.

Key words: beef, salting, ultrasonic treatment, fatty acid