Impact of frozen temperature and thawing methods on the Brazilian sensory profile of Nellore beef

Gomes, Carolina Lugnani; Silva, Thaís Jordânia; Pflanzer, Sérgio Bertelli; Bolini, Helena Maria Andre

doi:10.1590/1678-992X-2020-0067

Food Science and Technology • Sci. agric. (Piracicaba, Braz.) 78 (6) • 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-992X-2020-0067 linkcopy

Impact of frozen temperature and thawing methods on the Brazilian sensory profile of Nellore beef

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

We evaluated the effect of frozen storage temperature and thawing methods on acceptance and sensory profile of steaks of Nellore beef strip loin under 30 days of frozen storage. Fresh strip loin (n = 13), collected two days after slaughter, were aged (2 °C) for 14 days and cut into seven steaks subjected to one of the treatments: control (unfrozen), combination of two freezing temperatures (−10 and −20 °C), and three thawing methods (microwave, ambient temperature, and refrigeration thawing). Steaks in the frozen/thawing treatment were frozen using an ultra-fast freezer until the desirable temperature was reached and were stored for 30 days. After cooking, steaks were analyzed by 11 panelists for the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA^®) and by 120 beef consumers for acceptance. Storage temperature and thawing methods showed little or no changes in the sensory quality of strip loin steaks, detected by either panelists or consumers. In the QDA^®, apparent juiciness was lower in samples thawed in microwave, while the rancid flavor was lower for samples frozen at −20 °C and thawed in refrigeration ( p < 0.05). The consumer test showed that samples stored at −10 °C and microwave thawing was most accepted in terms of tenderness, juiciness, and overall impression. Fresh steaks (unfrozen) had low acceptance for overall impression in relation to frozen meat. This indicates that consumers could use a household freezer (−10 °C) and quicker thawing methods (microwave or room temperature) without compromising the sensory perception of steaks frozen up to one month.

Keywords:
strip loin steaks; quantitative descriptive analysis; acceptance test; freezing temperature

Attributes	Definition	References
Internal brown color	Internal brown color intensity	Weak: 7.5 YR 7/4/ volume 1 (Munsell, 1976).
Internal brown color	Internal brown color intensity	Strong: 5 YR 4/4/ volume 1 (Munsell, 1976).
Doneness degree	Intensity of internal color ranging from little to very cooked	Less cooked: Beef steak color guide (AMSA, 1995).
Doneness degree		Very cooked: Beef steak color guide (AMSA, 1995).
Apparent juiciness	Release of liquid ranging from dry appearance to a visible amount of liquid separated from beef	Less: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).
Apparent juiciness		Very: beef tenderloin (0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (60 °C).
Crumbling	Presence of fibers	Less: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Crumbling	Presence of fibers	Very: beef (0.025 m) matured for 14 days.
Roast beef aroma	Intensity of roast beef aroma	Weak: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Roast beef aroma	Intensity of roast beef aroma	Strong: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).
Boiled beef aroma	Intensity of boiled beef aroma	None: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Boiled beef aroma	Intensity of boiled beef aroma	Strong: beef shank (0.025 m) boiled in pressure cooker for 30 min.
Metallic aroma	Intensity of odor metal/iron flavor	None: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Metallic aroma	Intensity of odor metal/iron flavor	Strong: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in solution of ferrous sulfate (0.5 %) for 2 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Rancid aroma	Odor associated with rancid meat	None: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Rancid aroma	Odor associated with rancid meat	Strong: Desalted dry meat.
Roast beef flavor	Intensity of roast beef flavor	Weak: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Roast beef flavor	Intensity of roast beef flavor	Strong: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).
Boiled beef flavor	Intensity of boiled beef flavor	None: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Boiled beef flavor	Intensity of boiled beef flavor	Strong: beef shank (0.025 m) boiled in pressure cooker for 30 min.
Metallic flavor	Intensity of metal/iron flavor	None: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Metallic flavor	Intensity of metal/iron flavor	Strong: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in solution of ferrous sulfate (0.5 %) for 2 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Rancid flavor	Flavor associated with rancid meat	None: beef inside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) soaked in water for 12 h, roasted in electric oven (71 °C).
Rancid flavor	Flavor associated with rancid meat	Strong: Desalted dry meat.
Initial tenderness	Minimum force necessary (first bite) to bite the meat sample with incisors teeth	Less: beef outside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).
Initial tenderness		Very: beef tenderloin (0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (60 °C).
Initial juiciness	Amount of liquid released during chewing with the molar teeth	Less: beef outside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).
Initial juiciness		Very: beef tenderloin (0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (60 °C).
Chewiness	Time and strength (energy) required to chew the sample with the molars until swallowing	Less: beef tenderloin (0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (60 °C).
Chewiness		Very: beef outside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).
Fibrosity	Fibers perceived during mastication	Less: beef tenderloin (0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (60 °C).
Fibrosity	Fibers perceived during mastication	Very: beef outside round (0.04 × 0.04 × 0.025 m) roasted in electric oven (75 °C).

Descriptor	Frozen Storage	−10 (°C)			–20 (°C)			Control Fresh meat
Descriptor	Thawing Methods	MT (800 W)	AT (20 °C)	RT (4 °C)	MT (800 W)	AT (20 °C)	RT (4 °C)	Control Fresh meat
Appearance	Internal brown color	5.56	5.36	5.45	5.20	5.01	5.84	5.20
	Degree of doneness	6.13	5.40	5.60	6.13	5.67	5.94	6.39
	Apparent juiciness	2.70^c	5.02 a	5.36 a	3.13 b^c	4.15 ab	4.43 a	5.05 a
	Crumbling	1.43	1.04	1.13	1.53	1.26	0.92	1.48
Aroma	Roast beef	4.94	4.36	5.06	5.50	5.37	5.08	5.36
	Boiled beef	2.95	3.26	3.04	3.29	2.83	3.19	2.57
	Metallic	1.60	2.29	2.56	1.70	2.15	1.80	2.43
	Rancid	0.65	0.49	0.74	0.52	0.59	0.46	0.33
Flavor	Roast beef	5.30	5.15	5.60	5.12	5.61	5.64	5.35
	Boiled beef	2.92	2.86	2.63	2.99	3.12	2.88	2.21
	Metallic	2.07	2.40	2.72	2.00	2.07	1.90	1.96
	Rancid	0.82 a	0.51 ab	0.78 a	0.70 a	0.83 a	0.16 b	0.57 ab
Texture	Initial tenderness	5.86	5.75	6.11	4.90	5.43	5.84	4.98
	Initial Juiciness	4.02	4.96	5.17	3.78	4.86	4.51	3.84
	Chewiness	3.67	3.23	3.53	4.13	4.06	3.36	4.40
	Fibrosity	3.61	2.81	3.12	3.57	3.53	3.40	4.45

Frozen Storage Temperature	−10 (°C)			–20 (°C)			Control FM
Thawing methods	MT (800 W)	AT (20 °C)	RT (4 °C)	MT (800 W)	AT (20 °C)	RT (4 °C)	Control FM
Appearance	6.31 a	6.30 a	6.25 a	6.25 a	6.30 a	6.37 a	5.37 b
Aroma	6.04	5.96	6.07	6.12	5.87	6.07	5.50
Flavor	6.61	6.21	6.26	6.29	6.32	6.39	6.18
Tenderness	6.76 a	6.10 ab	6.11 ab	6.33 ab	6.21 ab	6.44 ab	5.72 b
Juiciness	6.54 a	6.11 ab	5.99 ab	6.08 ab	5.86 ab	6.21 ab	5.52 b
Overall impression	6.68 a	6.34 ab	6.23 ab	6.44 ab	6.20 ab	6.52 ab	5.95 b

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[TFN1] ^a,b
Means in the same row with different superscript letters differ significantly ( p < 0.05) by Tukey test.

[TFN1a] FM = Fresh meat; RT = refrigerator thawing; AT = ambient temperature thawing; MT = microwave thawing. Linear scale (10 cm unstructured), from “weak”, “less”, or “none” to “strong” and “very.