Evaluation of 0.1% Ammonium Hydroxide to Replace Sodium Tripolyphosphate in Fresh Meat Injection Brines

Abstract

Paired USDA Select beef strip loins (n = 10), aged 2 d, were injected with either an alkaline-based (3.6% sodium chloride, 1% Herbalox seasoning, adjusted to pH 10 with ammonium hydroxide [approximately 0.1%, FFC grade]) or a phosphate-based (3.6% sodium chloride, 1% Herbalox seasoning, 4.5% sodium tripolyphosphate) brine. Steaks were evaluated for 19 d. Overall, phosphate-injected steaks performed better than alkaline-injected steaks with respect to cook yield, water holding capacity, lipid oxidation, color stability, tenderness, and juiciness. Phosphate-injected steaks also had less purge than alkaline-injected steaks, as confirmed by composition analysis. Phosphate-injected steaks were higher in moisture and ash content, and were nearly 2% lower in protein content. Alkaline-injected steaks had significantly lower aerobic (approximately 1 log lower) and anaerobic (approximately 2 log lower) plate counts. Final meat pH probably contributed to the differences observed between treatments. The final pH of phosphate-injected steak was 5.99 while that of alkaline-injected steak was 5.73. Further research should be conducted to determine the concentration of ammonium hydroxide needed in the alkaline-based brine to increase the final meat pH to similar levels found in the phosphate-injected steaks.

Retail Display Evaluation of Steaks from Select Beef Strip Loins Injected with a Brine Containing 1% Ammonium Hydroxide. Part 2: Cook Yield, Tenderness, and Sensory Attributes

“…They also noted that increasing pump rate to 30% resulted in slightly nonmeat texture, which was also observed by Nath and others (2006). Findings in the current study were also an improvement over the results reported by Cerruto‐Noya and others (2009). They found steaks injected with only 0.1% ammonium hydroxide were significantly less tender and juicy, and connective tissue scores were also higher than their phosphate injected counterparts.…”

“…They observed increasing cook loss over time except for rectus femoris beef steaks where cook loss increased from day 1 to 7 and then decreased from day 7 to 14. The cook loss reported for CON steaks was similar to those containing SP reported by Cerruto‐Noya and others (2009). However, they reported that steaks from beef loins injected with 0.1% ammonium hydroxide had almost 27% cook loss by day 14 retail display.…”

“…The aim of this study, therefore, was to determine if meat injected with brine containing 1% ammonium hydroxide could perform as well as meat injected with a commercial‐based brine containing SP. Previous research by our research group reported that when 4.5% SP was replaced by 0.1% ammonium hydroxide, product performance was reduced (Cerruto‐Noya and others 2009). The results, however, also indicated that final meat pH after injection with a brine containing 0.1% ammonium hydroxide was lower than product injected with 4.5% SP.…”

Preventing Soft Texture Fish Fillets through Brine Injection Technology

“…Fillets selected ( = 8/treatment) for thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARs) content were utilized to measure lipid oxidation with a modified method of Buege and Aust (1978) as described by Cerruto-Noya et al [30]. …”

Antimicrobial Effect of Ammonium Hydroxide when Used as an Alkaline Agent in the Formulation of Injection Brine Solutions

“…We previously studied the replacement of phosphates by AH in the formulation of meat brines. When 1% AH was used, the results, in terms of quality parameters such as tenderness, juiciness, color stability, and lipid oxidation, were equivalent to those obtained from phosphate-injected steaks (2,11). These results look promising for the industry, since this would allow the meat industry to produce phosphate-free and lower-sodium-content meat products.…”