A COMPARISON OF HEAT-INDUCED CHANGES OF INTRAMUSCULAR CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND COLLAGEN OF BEEF SEMITENDINOSUS MUSCLE DURING WATER BATH AND MICROWAVE HEATING

The main objective of this study was to characterize the thermal properties of intramuscular connective tissue (IMCT) and collagen in beef semitendinosus (ST) muscle from Chinese yellow bulls during water bath and microwave heating. Beef ST muscle was heated to internal endpoint temperature of 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90C by water bath and microwave oven, respectively. The results indicated that insoluble collagen contents of microwave-heated meat were higher than water bath heated except for 90C, and showed significant differences at 80 and 90C (P < 0.05). Mechanical strength of IMCT showed significant difference (P < 0.05) at 60C between water bath- and microwave-heated meat. Perimysial portion content of microwave-heated meat was significantly higher than water bath heated at 60, 70, 80 (P < 0.05) and 90°C (P < 0.01), and endomysial portion content showed a gradual decrease during heating. A heating temperature of 60C was critical, and affects the maximum shrinkage temperatures (Tmax) of IMCT for both heated meat. With the increase in heating temperature, granulation changes of IMCT and disorderly changes of collagenous fibers arrangement have resulted. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS It is well known that the characteristics of intramuscular connective tissue (IMCT) and collagen are related to meat quality, especially for the meat tenderness. Besides, heating is an important step for the conversion of inedible (raw) meat to edible meat, and can make remarkable effects on the eating quality of meat. Based on those viewpoints, we reported the comparative research of water bath and microwave heating on the effects of meat quality and thermal characteristics of IMCT and collagen. Results reported in this article would be useful either for the science community or for the food industry of beef production. Moreover, our study can provide the reference for the systematic researches for Chinese yellow bulls in the future.

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