Impact of Spices and Wine‐Based Marinades on Tenderness, Fragmentation of Myofibrillar Proteins and Color Stability in Bovine Biceps Femoris Muscle

Fresh beef slices were marinated by immersion in marinades based on dry red wine, lime‐tree honey, salt, spices and seasoning plants such as thyme ( T hymus vulgaris ), marjoram ( M ajorana hortensis ), garlic ( A llium sativum ) and horseradish ( A rmoracia rusticana ) . Once marinated, meat pieces were vacuum packed and stored at 4C for 12 days. Experimental data indicated that marination of bovine B iceps femoris muscle in wine‐based marinades with spices and seasoning plants addition significantly decreased ( P < 0.05) cooking losses. A significant increase in tenderness ( P < 0.05) was observed in the samples marinated compared with the control. The effect of marination on biceps femoris muscle was not significant ( P > 0.05) on L *, a * and b * but significant on M b (myoglobin), MMb (metmyoglobin) and MbO 2 (oxymyoglobin) percentages. Electrophoretic pattern of muscle proteins showed reduction of molecular weight and relative density (%) of some protein fractions for marinated samples compared with the control. Practical Applications Meat quality can be defined as a combination of sensory characteristics and technological aspects, such as color, water‐holding capacity, cooking losses and texture. Marinades based on dry red wine, lime‐tree honey, salt, spices and seasoning plants might be used as a marinating agent for improving the tenderness of tough meat and decreasing cooking losses with no effect on meat color. It can be easily applied at household and industrial levels as an easy technique to improve meat tenderness. Improvement in tenderness will be of great value to both consumers and meat processors.