Effect of papain enzyme treatment on the tenderness of beef from the chuck cut of spent cow.

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of papain enzyme concentration and cooking time on beef tenderness from the chuck meat of spent cow. The papain enzyme was obtained from precipitate that settled out from a two-carbon organic co-solvent system which comprised 77% equal volume of ethanol and acetone and 23% pawpaw fruit liquid extract (crude protein solution). Uniformed-sized of beef from the chuck portion of spent cow was marinated with different concentrations of papain extract (0 ml, 10 ml, 15 ml), aged in the freezer and cooked at 75°Cfor30 and 60 minutes in a water bath. Data was collected on physico-chemical properties of the meat as well as the sensory evaluation. Cooking time and levels of inclusion of papain enzyme significantly (P<0.05) affected the meat quality characteristics measured, lhere were interactions between cooking time and levels of enzyme inclusion in the results of water holding capacity and pH. The amino acid content, mineral and the sensory evaluation of the chuck meat were all significantly (P<0.05) affected by the cooking time, levels of inclusion as well as interactions between cooking time and enzyme inclusion levels. The result showed that the papain extract derived from the two-carbon organic co-solvent extraction of pawpaw fruit could be used as an effective meat tenderizer within a short cooking time. It was concluded that papain enzyme treated beef from the chuck of spent cow can be cooked for 30 minutes with up to 15mls level of inclusion for better meat tenderization.