Anais do Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciências de Alimentos
Anais do 14 SLACA - Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciência de Alimentos

Brazilian beef production and consumption occupies the top positions in world ranking (FAO, 2019) with cattle herd mainly composed by Bos indicus (Nellore). Nellore cattle are known to exhibit high calpastatin concentration, which influence meat texture parameters. Beef color and tenderness are quality attributes associated to the consumers purchase decisions. In this regard, the use of non-thermal or non-chemical techniques, such as ultrasound (US), have been frequently required to improve beef quality. Recent investigations about the influence of ultrasound in beef color and texture has been conducted and reported conflicting results. Therefore, the present study evaluated the color and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) of Longissimus lumborum (LL) subjected to four ultrasound intensities. Six (n=6) LL from Nellore carcasses were utilized. LL were fabricated into 2.5 cm thick steaks, vacuum-packed and randomly assigned to the ultrasound intensities (W.s/cm2) using an ultrasonic bath (USC-2800A): T0 (0); T1 (243.85); T2 (422.67); T3 (747.79). Instrumental color (CIE L*a*b* and R630/580) and WBSF (work of shear; N/mm.s) were performed using a colorimeter CM-600D (Konica Minolta) and a TA-TX-plus texture analyzer (Stable Micro Systems), respectively. There was no effect of T1, T2 and T3 (P > 0.05) on meat luminosity (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*) and R630/580, indicating that the US intensities did not induce myoglobin oxidation, protein responsible to meat color (CARRILLO-LOPEZ et al., 2019). The US intensities exhibited a tendency (T1:7,02%; T2:12,21%; T3: 5,92%,) to decrease the WBSF in comparison to control (T0). The decrease of WBSF may be attributed to a disruption of cell membranes and lysosomes promoted by US treatment. However, high intensities, such as T3, can severely damage the muscle fiber structure of and favor toughening (SMITH et al., 1991). Therefore, use US could be an alternative to improve meat texture without negatively impact the color attributes of beef.