The effect of water vapor pressure on muscle collagen solubility and selected characteristics of the longissimus lumborum muscle in crossbred cattle

Most scientific studies are dedicated to the possibility of preparing beef for consumption under industrial conditions. Few publications are devoted to the issue of collagen thermohydrolysis in conditions available to the consumer. This study has analyzed the effect of small values of water vapor pressure on major culinary indices and chemical components of the longissimus lumborum muscle obtained from bulls with different growth rates. The experiment involved 48 animals. On the basis of the gain during the fattening time, the animals were divided into a low growth intensity group, with a daily body weight gain of ≤900 g, and a high growth intensity group with a daily gain of >900 g/day. A part of the samples of the longissimus lumborum muscle (control) was thermally treated in a water bath at 75°C. Another part was heat treated in a pressure-pot at 150°C, at a pressure of 0.1 MPa. The next part of samples was subjected to the same temperature, but the pressure was 0.2 MPa. The obtained results indicate that the values of the studied indices were largely affected by thermal processing parameters rather than the animals’ growth rate. The highest contents of total protein and water-soluble collagen were obtained in the case of a temperature of 150°C and the highest pressure (0.2 MPa). Water vapor with increased temperature and pressure also created favorable conditions for obtaining better meat tenderness and more favorable values of the water holding capacity. The latter characteristic appeared to be strongly connected with an increasing amount of water-soluble collagen, which was confirmed by relatively high values of the correlation coefficient between these characteristics. A strong positive correlation was also shown between thermal drip and the total collagen content in meat.