Effect of Calcium Chloride Marination and Collagen Content on Beef, Horse, Rabbit and Hen Meat Hardness

Abstract

Overall, meat texture is composed of two types of toughness: primary toughness, because of mechanical resistance of the myofibrillar structure, and secondary toughness, by reason of connective tissue content. Primary toughness can be reduced during aging by intrinsic and extrinsic protease activity. Secondary toughness is determined by a given amount of epimysial and perimysial connective tissue, which cannot be reduced as no collagenases are naturally present in the muscle or produced by native meat microbial populations. The objective of this work was to study primary toughness reduction in meat from four animal species, i.e., beef, horse, rabbit and hen, employing M. Biceps femoris, by calpain activation with calcium chloride. Secondary toughness, expressed as hydroxyproline content, and contribution of both parameters to overall hardness were also studied. Marination with 150 mM CaCl 2 increased enzymatic activity in pre-rigor meat (horse and beef), but higher concentrations (250 mM) reduced enzymatic activity increments. Although beef marination considerably increased enzymatic activity, it did not reduce hardness, probably because of high collagen content. The high hydroxyproline concentration in beef and horse caused an overall hardness. Marinated horse meat had lower collagen content and a higher enzyme activity, resulting in less hard samples. As expected, pre-rigor meats, hen and rabbit, Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKJMFJournal of Muscle Foods1046-0756Copyright 2004 by Food & Nutrition Press, Inc., Trumbull, Connecticut.162141154Original ArticleEFFECT OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE MARINATION AND COL-LAGEN CONTENT M.L. PEREZ-CHABELA ET AL. 142 M.L. PEREZ-CHABELA ET AL.had low hardness values for both control and treated samples. Because CaCl 2 in high concentrations inhibits calpain activity, it was assumed that rabbit meat calpains were inhibited at concentrations as low as 150 mM. Therefore, calpains were active in control pre-rigor rabbit meat but were inactivated by CaCl 2 addition.

Physicochemical Properties of Pastirma from Horse Meat, Beef, Mutton and Pork

“…; Pérez‐Chabela et al . ). In the present study, the shear force of horse meat and beef pastirma were not different.…”

“…1). Horse meat has been reported to be tougher than beef (Pérez et al 1998;Pérez-Chabela et al 2005). In the present study, the shear force of horse meat and beef pastirma were not different.…”

Influence of Horse Age, Marinating Substances, and Frozen Storage on Horse Meat Quality

“…Different compounds have been used for marinating horse meat, to achieve improved texture parameters. Studies [ 43 ] on similar material showed that CaCl 2 solution used for marinating contributed to lowering the hardness of meat samples in comparison to the control samples.…”

“…A few studies have comprehensively analyzed the influence of horse age, marinating substances, and period of frozen storage on the quality of horse meat. Those studies [ 17 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ] contribute to our understanding of how to improve the quality of horse meat, and ultimately increase the demand from consumers and meat processing plants. Nevertheless, there is still a need for further research to increase knowledge regarding this topic.…”

The Quality of Horsemeat and Selected Methods of Improving the Properties of This Raw Material

“…Calcium chloride, as an activator of proteolysis in meat of slaughter animals, is introduced mostly during injection or marinating [58,59]. Research aimed at improving the quality of horsemeat using CaCl 2 was carried out by, among others, Pérez-Chabela et al [60], Pérez-Chabela et al [61], Pérez-Chabela et al [62] and Pérez et al [63]. The use of 150 mM calcium chloride solution for marinating horsemeat for 48 h caused the activation of calpains, thus affecting the degradation of myofibrillar proteins and improving the tenderness of the analyzed meat [60].…”