Beef rectus abdominis muscles (n = 100; 20/treatment) were assigned randomly to 1 of 5 treatments: untreated control (Control, No Treatment; CNT), vacuum tumbled control without marinade (Tumbled Control, No Treatment; TCNT), vacuum tumbled with marinade (TUMB), injected with marinade (INJ), and injected with marinade plus vacuum tumbled (IPT) to determine how enhancement techniques influence consumer palatability. After processing, flank samples were cooked (72°C), cut into 1.3-cm strips, and served as fajita strips for consumer evaluation (n = 200). Treatment influenced (P < 0.01) the rating and acceptability of all palatability traits, overall liking, and willingness to pay (WTP). Consumers scored IPT and INJ more tender compared to all other treatments (P < 0.05). Samples processed using IPT and INJ were juicier (P < 0.05) than all other treatments, except INJ and TUMB were similar (P > 0.05). Samples processed using TUMB and INJ were similar (P > 0.05) for flavor and WTP, and INJ, IPT, and TUMB samples were similar (P > 0.05) for overall liking. Thus, consumers were willing to pay more for IPT than TUMB (P < 0.05). Consumers scored CNT and TCNT lower for all palatability traits which resulted in lower WTP (P < 0.05). Inclusion of a marinade improved the eating quality of samples compared to CNT and TCNT. The delivery method of the brine solution was less important to palatability as the presence of a marinade, as IPT, INJ, and TUMB were all similar (P > 0.05) for overall liking. Injection plus tumbling improved tenderness, juiciness, and flavor liking scores over tumbling alone, but not over injection alone. Injection influenced consumer tenderness more than tumbling, but tumbling had greater effects on cooked moisture than injection. While IPT did not surpass either TUMB or INJ in all sensory categories, IPT does excel when considering moisture retention along with palatability.

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ObjectivesEnhancement of beef with non-meat ingredients is a common practice to improve both palatability and chemical characteristics. However, the delivery method of brine solutions has not been well studied and could play a role in the activity of certain ingredients, ultimately influencing meat characteristics. This study was designed to determine if different enhancement methods impacted the overall physical and chemical properties, including pH, percent pick-up, slice shear force (SSF), and cooked moisture content, of enhanced (water, salt and sodium tripolyphosphate) rectus abdominus.Materials and MethodsUSDA Select beef flank steaks (rectus abdominus) were procured from a beef abattoir and processed at 10 d postmortem. Steaks (n = 100; 20/treatment) were denuded and assigned randomly to one of the five treatments: untreated control (CNT), vacuum tumbled without marinade (TCNT), vacuum tumbled with marinade (TUMB), needle injected with marinade (INJ), and injected with marinade plus vacuum tumbled (IPT). Initial weight and pH were collected pre-enhancement for TUMB, INJ, and IPT. Samples were weighed again immediately after enhancement and 20 min after enhancement. Three weights were collected for IPT: pre-enhancement, post-injection and post-tumble. After flank enhancement, they were sliced in half parallel to the muscle fiber. One half was designated for laboratory analysis. The halves were then frozen and thawed 24 h prior to cooking. A 50-g raw sample was obtained from each flank prior to cooking for SSF to analyze raw moisture content. Each flank was cooked to an internal temperature of 72°C and allowed to rest for 3 min prior to slicing for SSF.ResultsTreatment influenced final pH (P < 0.01), with final pH increasing in INJ, TUMB, and IPT. Differences were noted in final pH between treatments; INJ had the highest pH (6.15), followed by IPT (6.06), TUMB (5.83), CNT (5.76), and TCNT (5.71), with a difference observed between each treatment (P < 0.05). Treatment also impacted (P < 0.01) SSF. The addition of marinade through injection and tumbling reduced (P < 0.05) SSF values, as CNT and TCNT had greater SSF values compared to all other treatments. Injection further reduced SSF values, as INJ and IPT had lower SSF values compared to TUMB (P < 0.05). Cooked moisture was also influenced (P < 0.01) by treatment. IPT and TUMB had greater moisture percentage compared to all other treatments; INJ was intermediate, and CNT and TCNT similarly had lower moisture percentage than the remaining treatments (P < 0.05). Of the three treatments that involved marination, initial and final percent pick-up and drip loss were all influenced by treatment (P < 0.01). Initially, INJ (14.5%) had the greatest percent pick-up, IPT was intermediate (12.9%), and TUMB had the lowest percentage (11.8%). However, drip loss was greatest for INJ (2.3%), intermediate for TUMB (0.2%), and lowest for IPT (0.0%). Final percent pick-up was now greatest for IPT (12.9%), intermediate for INJ (11.9%), and lowest for TUMB (11.5%).ConclusionEnhancement methods can influence physical and chemical traits in terms of moisture, SSF and pH. Injection influenced shear force more than tumbling, whereas tumbling had greater effects on moisture than injection. Combining injection with tumbling had the most positive effect on shear force as well as moisture retention.

ObjectivesValue added products are typically enhanced either through needle injection or vacuum tumbling, and both techniques carry certain benefits, whether that be more even distribution of the brine or improved palatability. However, it is unknown if tumbling itself can improve palatability without the addition of a marinade. Moreover, there is merit in determining if eating quality can be further improved by using both needle injection and vacuum tumbling. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine how different enhancement techniques influence palatability traits such as tenderness, texture, flavor, juiciness and overall liking of the rectus abdominis muscle when cooked and prepared for fajita meat.Materials and MethodsUSDA Select beef flank steaks (rectus abdominis) were procured from a commercial beef abattoir and processed at 10 d postmortem. Steaks (n = 100; 20/treatment) were assigned randomly to 1 of 5 different treatments: untreated control (CNT), vacuum tumbled control without marinade (TCNT), vacuum tumbled with marinade (TUMB), injected with marinade (INJ), and injected with marinade plus vacuum tumbled (IPT). In addition, non-enhanced USDA Choice flanks were used as a warm-up sample and to provide linkage across panel nights. Flanks were cooked to 72°C, sliced into 1.3-cm strips approximately 5-cm long, and kept warm until serving. Consumers (n = 200; 50/day) evaluated samples for tenderness, juiciness, flavor liking, texture, saltiness, and overall liking. Consumers were also asked if each trait was acceptable, as well as their willingness to pay (WTP) for each sample at retail.ResultsTreatment influenced (P < 0.01) the rating and acceptability of all palatability traits, overall liking, and WTP. Consumers similarly scored IPT and INJ more tender, juicier, and liked those samples more overall compared to all other treatments (P < 0.05). As a result, consumers were willing to pay more for IPT and INJ compared to all other treatments (P < 0.05). Although tenderness, juiciness, and flavor liking were intermediate for TUMB, consumers found the saltiness and overall liking of TUMB similar (P > 0.05) to IPT and INJ; however, consumers were not willing to pay as much for TUMB as IPT. Consumers scored CNT and TCNT similarly lower for tenderness, juiciness, flavor liking, saltiness (not salty enough), and overall liking compared to all other treatments, which resulted in lower WTP for these two treatments (P < 0.05). Acceptability generally followed the same trends as the ratings for each palatability trait.ConclusionInclusion of a marinade or brine solution was critical for the eating quality of fajita samples, as evidenced by the outperformance of CNT, which was not enhanced, and TCNT, which was tumbled but without a brine solution, by all other treatments. The delivery method of the brine solution was not as important to eating quality as the presence of a marinade, as IPT, INJ, and TUMB were all similar for overall liking. Injection plus tumbling improved tenderness, juiciness, and flavor liking scores over tumbling alone, but did not significantly improve those traits in comparison to injection alone. Therefore, enhancement influenced palatability and the acceptability of those traits. However, minimal differences were observed between tumbling and need injection as long as a brine solution was included.