Beef quality of different portions of the biceps femoris muscle in Bos indicus cattle improved by tumbling with brine.

The effect of tumbling with brines on different portions of the biceps femoris muscle was evaluated for the quality of beef from cattle older than 30 mo. Six biceps femoris muscles were divided into portions: origin (OP), insertion 1(IP1), and insertion 2 (IP2). The portions were sliced into steaks and were treated with no tumbling (control), tumbling with brine (BR), and tumbling with brine and hydrolyzed soy protein (BR+HSP). The steaks were vacuum packaged and stored for 1 and 12 d and then analyzed for pH, yield, color, cooking loss, and shear force. The control steaks from the OP had higher (P < 0.05) pH and shear force values and lower (P < 0.05) L* values than the control steaks from IP2. The pH and a* and b* values increased (P < 0.05) and the L* values and cooking loss decreased (P < 0.05) when the steaks were tumbled with BR and BR+HSP. Overall, substantial variation was found for the variables among the different portions of the biceps femoris muscle. Based on the lower lightness (low exudation) and greater yellow and red intensity (less oxidation) of the meat, the tumbling with brines improved the meat quality. However, the hydrolyzed soy protein incorporated into the brine did not increase the effect compared with using the brine alone for most of the variables.