Use of Phosphates and Salt to Improve Lean Meat Water Retention in High‐moisture Preblends¹

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of various phosphates and preblend duration on high‐moisture beef preblends. Six preblends were manufactured with a 1:1 lean beef:solution ratio. The treatments included a control, salt with no phosphate, and reduced salt with one of two neutral phosphates or one of two alkaline phosphates. These preblends were sampled at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h. Preblending time did not alter (P>0.05) cooking stability or protein solubility of preblends containing phosphates. Preblends containing phosphates had higher levels (38‐50% vs 25‐33%) of soluble protein and higher cook stability (90‐97% vs 60‐65%) than controls with no salt or phosphate, or salt only. There was no decrease in phosphate improvement of protein functionality with time, even though phosphate hydrolysis continued throughout the 48h preblending period. Phosphate addition into high‐moisture preblends may be an effective strategy to use in the manufacture of low‐fat/high‐moisture products.