Pulsed electric field: Role in protein digestion of beef Biceps femoris

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) on the protein digestion kinetics of cold-boned beef Biceps lemons during in-vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion. Muscle was treated with PEF at 5 kV, 90 Hz, 20 mu s (T-1) and 10 kV, 20 Hz, 20 mu s (T-2) and subjected to in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion along with an untreated control. Samples were collected at 0, 30, and 60 min of gastric digestion and 120 and 180 min of intestinal digestion. PEF processing affected the digestion kinetics by modifying the protein profile (SDS-PAGE) of the meat digests and significantly (P < 0.05) increasing the protein digestibility (%) and soluble protein (%). Concentration of almost all the free amino acids was recorded higher for the PEF treated samples whereas no significant (P > 0.05) impact was observed on the release of minerals such as Fe, Zn, Cr, Cu, Mg, Ni, Na or K. PEF processing improved the digestion kinetics of the beef muscle during gastrointestinal digestion simulation. Industrial relevance: PEF processing has already been reported to improve the tenderization of beef muscles during ageing process. The simulations and experiments conducted in this work showed that PEF processing has the potential to improve the protein digestion kinetics of beef muscle during in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion and could be utilized for the development of novel muscle foods and protein structures with improved digestibility and nutritive value.