Abstract: This study is aimed at improving the tenderness and prolonging shelf life of steak by high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and freezing method. Effect of different treatments on the quality of steak were investigated by analyzing color value, shear force, drip loss, total aerobic count and the storage time. The results showed HPP and freezing pretreatments retained the equivalent tenderness but at a reduced pressure, 100 MPa lower than HPP treatment alone. The percent of drip loss increased initially to the maximum of 3.9% at 400 MPa, and then decreased. However, no significant difference was observed in the color and drip loss of steaks treated by HPP alone. The total aerobic count of freezing + HHP group was significantly lower than the HHP groups. The storage test revealed that the total aerobic count in freezing + HHP steak was 1.9×105 after 16 days of storage at 0–4℃.

Key words: high hydrostatic pressure, steak, shear force value, total aerobic count, storage period