Effects of pulsed electric field pretreatment on mass transfer and quality of beef during marination process

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) pretreatment on mass transfer, microstructure and eating quality of beef during marination process. Results showed that PEF could achieve a good effect of promoting marination with a small energy input (0.78–12.50 kJ/kg). Under the best condition (2.0 kV/cm, 125 pulses, 12.50 kJ/kg), the marination time was reduced by almost 33%, whereas the diffusion coefficient values increased up to 51.8% and 69.0% for NaCl and water, respectively. The marination process was modeled with Fick's second law and the model showed good fit. Furthermore, the cell disintegration results and the microstructure analysis showed that the main reason for PEF accelerating marination might be due to the expansion of gaps between muscle bundles with its membrane permeabilization potential. For quality properties, tenderness was enhanced up to 22.9% (2.0 kV/cm, 125 pulses, 12.50 kJ/kg), but all conditions did not significantly (P > 0.05) influence their color, purge loss and cooking loss. In our research, the PEF-assisted marination process could significantly (P < 0.05) enhance the NaCl uptake of beef and reduce the marination time with the potential to improve meat tenderness. These results indicated that PEF could be a promising and effective pretreatment for the marination process of meat products.