The research on the synergistic improvement of water retention capacity and eating quality of marinated pork meat by the combination of basic arginine and acidic aspartic acid

Kuo Xu; Ao-Jing Lv; Rui-Ling Dong; Yu-Cong Li; Li-Ting Zeng; Yang Wang; He-Shuai Li; Jun Qi; Hu-Hu Wang; Chun-Hui Zhang; Guo-Yuan Xiong; Qing-Yong Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.142649

The research on the synergistic improvement of water retention capacity and eating quality of marinated pork meat by the combination of basic arginine and acidic aspartic acid

Food Chem. 2024 Dec 25:470:142649. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.142649. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Kuo Xu¹, Ao-Jing Lv¹, Rui-Ling Dong¹, Yu-Cong Li¹, Li-Ting Zeng¹, Yang Wang¹, He-Shuai Li¹, Jun Qi², Hu-Hu Wang³, Chun-Hui Zhang⁴, Guo-Yuan Xiong⁵, Qing-Yong Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Jianghuai Agricultural Product Fine Processing and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Anhui Engineering Research Center for High Value Utilization of Characteristic Agricultural Products, College of Food and Nutrition, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
² Key Laboratory of Jianghuai Agricultural Product Fine Processing and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Anhui Engineering Research Center for High Value Utilization of Characteristic Agricultural Products, College of Food and Nutrition, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China. Electronic address: junqi86@hotmail.com.
³ College of Food Science and Pharmacy, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 210095, China.
⁴ Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
⁵ School of Food Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, China.
⁶ Shandong Province Grilled Chicken Co., Ltd., Dezhou 253000, China.

PMID: 39733615
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.142649

Abstract

Effects of varying levels of arginine (Arg) and aspartic acid (Asp) on the water-holding capacity (WHC) and eating quality of marinated pork meat were investigated. The addition of Arg significantly enhanced the WHC of marinated pork meat (P < 0.05) due to the increased pH levels of the meat. Besides, when the pH values of the meat were consistent, the combined use of Arg and Asp significantly decreased the cooking loss (CL) from 9.0 % to 6.4 % (P < 0.05) and increased the hardness and springiness (P < 0.05). These outcomes could be attributed to the combined effects of Arg and Asp, which promoted the dissociation of actomyosin and enhanced the antioxidant capacity of proteins, leading to a significant increase in the ordered structure. Moreover, Asp affected the extensibility of the perimysium, improving the tightness between fiber bundles. These modifications in muscle structures improved the WHC and texture of the meat.

Keywords: Arg; Asp; Marinated pork meat; Microstructure; Protein secondary structure; WHC.