Effect of addition of different citrus juice on the quality of se'i made from the meat of cull Bali cows with different body condition scores

Various attempts are required to improve the quality of se’i as a traditional beef processed product from The Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, since the raw beef commonly used is from thin cull Bali cows. Using raw beef from fatter cows may improve the quality of se’i, but the addition of organic acids such as different citric juices may also improve the quality of se’i. This research aimed to evaluate the quality of se’i processed from beef of cull Bali cows with different body condition scores (BCS) and added citrus juice (CJ) during marination to improve aroma, reduce lipid oxidation and bac-terial contamination. A completely randomized design (CRD) with a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement was assigned in this study. The first factor was the BCS of the cull cow i.e., BCS2, BCS3, and BCS4. The second factor was citrus juice, i.e. no citrus juice as control (NC), Lime juice (LJ), and Kaffir lime juice (KLJ). Results showed that the addition of KLJ improved the aroma and acceptability of se’i, but the addition of LJ failed to improve those parameters in BCS 2. In all BCS, the addition of lime or kaffir lime juice reduced the pH, residual nitrite, lipid oxidation, and the total plate count (TPC). How-ever, in BCS 4 only KLJ reduced the pH but it did not reduce the residual nitrite. In conclusion, the addition of KLJ was more effective to improve the sensory value of se’i, particularly when it was made from thin cull Bali cows (BCS 2). Meanwhile, to improve the shelf-life and the food safety of se’i as indicated by the ability to reduce the residual nitrite and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) in Se'I, the addition of LJ proven to be more effective than KLJ. To produce the highest qual-ity of se’i, it is suggested to process beef from fat cull Bali cows (BCS 4) with the addition of lime juice for best sensory quality or with the addition of lime juice for longer shelf-life and minimum bac-terial contamination.