Effects of Marination with Different Salt Concentrations on Some Quality Criteria of Beef Meat

In the present study, the effect of different salt concentrations on some quality properties such as the total number of coliform bacteria, texture, cooking loss, total salt content, metmyoglobin, pH, the water activity of steaks prepared from longissimus dorsi muscle of fresh beef was investigated. For this purpose, steaks prepared from longissimus dorsi muscle were dipped in marination brine in four different concentrations; 0% (control group), 1.5% NaCl, 2% NaCl and 2.5% NaCl, and marinated for 24 hours at +4 °C. The initial crude protein, crude fat, pH, moisture, and ash contents of beef were determined as 20.50%, 5.80%, 6.13, 72.63%, 1.07%, respectively. In the cooked meat samples, the hardness, chewiness and gumminess of the samples marinated with 1.5% and 2% NaCl was found to be higher than the control group. Metmyoglobin content of the meat samples marinated with NaCl is lower than the control group. The results revealed that the total number of coliform bacteria decreased drastically in parallel with the increase in salt concentration. As a result, the changes in the quality of the bovine longissimus dorsi muscle with different salt concentrations and marination were investigated, and positive effects on the textural properties and coliform bacterial load of the meat were observed.