Calcium chelators and salt extracted myofibrillar protein injection into lean prerigor beef muscle: Effects on tenderness indices

Prerigor beef longissimus muscles were removed within 40 min postmortem and injected 10% (within 2 h postmortem) with either a chelator (alginate, 3%; hexametaphosphate, 3%; EDTA, 0.13%; citrate, 0.13%), meat slurry (45%), or a myofibrillar meat extract (3.7% protein) to evaluate the effects of each injection on the physical and chemical properties compared to a control and a water only injected treatment Gross muscle shortening was not inhibited. The water only, meat extract and citrate treatments had shorter (P<0.05) sarcomeres than the control. The meat slurry, alginate, phosphate, and EDTA treatments produced sarcomere lengths equivalent to the control. The control had the lowest (P<0.05) pH and percentage moisture. However, there were no differences in percentage cooking losses. Although variations in sarcomere length were apparent these treatments did not improve tenderness (P>0.05) as measured by Warner-Bratzler shear.