Marination

Abstract: The most commonly used poultry marinades include salt and sodium tripolyphosphate, which have been shown to increase meat yield and water-holding capacity, as well as improve color and texture. Recently, several poultry further-processing facilities have begun using more acidic (pH ˜4) type marinades such as sodium lactate, sodium citrate, and sodium diacetate (alone or in combination) to combat the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in further-processed meat loaves. Because the acidic marinades currently used in turkey further-processing have a low pH (˜4) compared with the previously used salt and sodium tripolyphosphate (˜pH 9), these marinades may cause meat quality problems. This review paper will discuss aspects of poultry food safety and meat quality and how acidic marinades can be used to improve safety, specifically by controlling L. monocytogenes growth, and how they affect quality of the meat products. Current industry practices will be discussed and reviewed.

Abstract: Water-holding capacity (WHC) of meat and meat products determines the visual acceptability, weight loss, and cook yield as well as sensory traits on consumption. WHC is defined, and the muscle structure and protein influences on WHC of raw and cooked muscle are described. The influence of postmortem pH fall; pale, soft, and exudative; and dark, firm, and dry; aging; electrical stimulation; vacuum packing; freezing; and thawing on WHC are explained. The changes in structure as a result of cooking and also processing are presented as well as the influence of high-pressure processing, salting pre- and postrigor, ionic strength, phosphates, and marination. Finally, methods for measuring WHC are defined, and a summary and conclusions are given.