Reverse Stability Kinetics of Meat Pigment Oxidation in Aqueous Extract from Fresh Beef

• Published in: Journal of food science Vol. 82; no. 12; pp. 2910 - 2914
• Main Authors: Frelka, John C., Phinney, David M., Wick, Macdonald P., Heldman, Dennis R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2017
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; Beef; Cattle; Color; Energy consumption; Food; Food processing; Food quality; Freezing; Frozen food; Frozen Foods - analysis; frozen storage; Ionic strength; Kinetics; Mathematical models; Meat; Meat - analysis; meat quality; Muscle, Skeletal - chemistry; Myoglobins; Oxidation; Oxidation rate; Oxidation-Reduction; Pigments; Pigments, Biological - chemistry; Pigments, Biological - isolation & purification; Reaction kinetics; Sodium chloride; Stability; Storage; Storage conditions; Temperature; Temperature dependence; Temperature effects; Water - analysis; meat quality; meat; oxidation; frozen storage; kinetics
• ISSN: 0022-1147; 1750-3841
• DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.13976

The use of kinetic models is an evolving approach to describing quality changes in foods during processes, including storage. Previous studies indicate that the oxidation rate of myoglobin is accelerated under frozen storage conditions, a phenomenon termed reverse stability. The goal of this study was to develop a model for meat pigment oxidation to incorporate the phenomenon of reverse stability. In this investigation, the model system was an aqueous extract from beef which was stored under a range of temperatures, both unfrozen and frozen. The kinetic analysis showed that in unfrozen solutions, the temperature dependence of oxidation rate followed Arrhenius kinetics. However, under in frozen solutions the rate of oxidation increased with decreasing temperature until reaching a local maximum around −20 °C. The addition of NaCl to the model system increased oxidation rates at all temperatures, even above the initial freezing temperature. This observation suggests that this reaction is dependent on the ionic strength of the solution as well as temperature. The mechanism of this deviant kinetic behavior is not fully understood, but this study shows that the interplay of temperature and composition on the rate of oxidation of meat pigments is complicated and may involve multiple mechanisms. Practical Application A better understanding of the kinetics of quality loss in a meat system allows for a re‐examination of the current recommendations for frozen storage. The deviant kinetic behavior observed in this study indicates that the relationship between quality loss and temperature in a frozen food is not as simple as once thought. Product‐specific recommendations could be implemented in the future that would allow for a decrease in energy consumption without a significant loss of quality.