Marinating red meat with tarragon and optimization of marination conditions

Meat and meat products have an important place in a healthy and balanced diet due to the high nutritional components they contain but are subject to significant changes during processing and storage that limit their quality and acceptability. These basic degradation events are oxidation reactions that reduce the nutritional value, physical, chemical and sensory quality of the product. In recent years, due to the antioxidant properties of spices and aromatic herbs, their use as natural antioxidant products preventing oxidation in meat products has become widespread. In this study, optimum marination conditions for marination process were determined using the response surface method. In the optimization study, marination concentration was selected as independent variables in the range of 5-15% and marination duration 12-36 h, and marination absorption, total phenolic substance content, antioxidant activity and peroxide value were selected as dependent variables. In addition, marination process conditions; Their effects on moisture content, soluble solids, color change, pH and marination parameters (water and solids recovery) were also studied. The marination process was carried out following the two-factor "Central Composite Rotatable" design trial plan. The process conditions for marinating absorption, total phenolic substance content and antioxidant activity to be maximum and peroxide value to be minimum were determined by applying the decrability function approach, the marination concentration was 15% and the marination time was 12 h. At the optimum point, marination absorption in marinating meat was 16.43 %, total phenolic substance was 189.0 mg GAE / g DM, antioxidant activity was 1366 mg trolox / g DM and peroxide value was 4.595 meq O2 / kg meat. The meats marinated at the optimum point were cooked and the cooking loss was determined as 49.26 % and 39.12 % in control meat and marinated meat, respectively