Fresh and cooked color of dark-cutting beef can be altered by post-rigor enhancement with lactic acid

Fresh and cooked color of dark-cutting (DC) beef strip loins (mean pH = 6.56) enhanced with 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 or 1.00% lactic acid (LA) were compared to non-enhanced DC and normal pH (NpH; mean pH = 5.43) strip loins. Even though NpH steaks received the most (P < 0.05) desirable fresh color scores, color scores for steaks from DC sections enhanced with 0.25% LA approached those of NpH steaks after the first day of retail display. Discoloration scores were also similar (P > 0.05) among NpH and 0.25% LA-enhanced DC steaks throughout the 5 d of display. Fresh steaks from NpH strip loins were redder, as evidenced by greater (P < 0.05) a∗ values and lower (P < 0.05) hue angles, than DC steaks and DC steaks enhanced with LA, regardless of concentration. However, cooked color scores and proportions of denatured myoglobin were similar (P > 0.05) between untreated NpH steaks and DC steaks enhanced with 0.25% LA. Results from this study indicate that enhancing DC beef with LA may lead to the brightening of the fresh color and prevention of the persistent red cooked color, approaching that of NpH beef.