Impact of citric acid on the tenderness, microstructure and oxidative stability of beef muscle

Acidification of meat can improve texture however it also increases susceptibility to lipid oxidation. The effect of injection and marination of citric acid to acidify and sodium carbonate or sodium tri-polyphosphate to increase pH of beef on tenderness, microstructure and oxidative stability was determined. Water-holding capacity and tenderness of beef semitendinosus muscle increased significantly at pH 3.52 upon addition of citric acid and returned to the level of untreated sample after pH was increased (pH ∼5.26) by sodium tri-polyphosphate. The microstructure of the muscle was lost upon acidification but reformed upon increasing muscle pH. Lipid oxidation was inhibited in cooked beef blocks and ground muscle acidified with citric acid. Lipid oxidation was also inhibited in citric acid acidified beef that was readjustment to pH values equal to or greater than the raw beef muscle with sodium tri-polyphosphate or sodium carbonate. In addition, citric acid that was adjusted to the pH of the raw beef so that it did not alter the pH of the beef also inhibited lipid oxidation. These results indicate that citric acid and not sodium tri-polyphosphate or pH adjustment was responsible for inhibiting lipid oxidation in beef. These results suggest that the best acid marination technique for beef would be citric acid since it is effective at both improving texture and inhibiting lipid oxidation.