Effects of Salt Concentration in Soybean Sauce on the Physicochemical Properties of Pre-rigor Ground Hanwoo Muscle

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effect of salt concentration in soybean sauce (ganjang) on pre-rigor ground Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) muscle. Although adding soybean sauce reduced pH of pre-rigor Hanwoo muscle, it improved the water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss, total protein solubility, myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI), 2-thiobar-bituric acid (TBA) values, and textural properties by increasing salt concentration in the soybean sauce. In particular, adding soybean sauce inhibited lipid oxidation despite increasing salt concentration. An increased salt concentration in the soybean sauce in pre-rigor Hanwoo muscle tended to make the meat have lower lightness and higher redness and yellowness values. Although soybean sauce had a significantly lower pre-rigor salting effect than sodium chloride in terms of cooking loss and total protein solubility (p<0.05), soybean sauce improved myofibrillar fragmentation and lipid oxidation when compared with sodium chloride. Furthermore, no significant differences in textural properties were observed between adding soybean sauce and sodium chloride at the same salt concentrations. Therefore, soybean sauce can be a functional curing material for pre-rigor muscle.