An assessment of the effect of pulsed electrical fields on tenderness and selected quality attributes of post rigour beef muscle

The effect of conventional and PEF treatment (electric field strength: 1.1–2.8 kV cm− 1; energy density: 12.7–226 kJ/kg), frequency (5–200 Hz) and pulse number (152–300) on selected quality attributes of beef Semitendinosus (ST) was investigated. While PEF is viewed as a “non-thermal” treatment, it can induce moderate temperature rises (∆T). To eliminate any potential effect of mild temperature increases, PEF treated samples were compared to conventionally treated (water bath) samples exposed to similar temperature rises (5–35 °C) and handling conditions. Weight loss, conductivity, water holding properties and particle sizes were measured pre- and post-treatment. PEF treatment that induced a ∆T of 22 °C significantly (P < 0.05) affected weight loss of samples post treatment. Particle size analysis of the extracted myofibrils showed PEF significantly (P < 0.05) affected the myofibrils while weight loss results suggest that PEF treatment may have led to slight changes in the cell membrane leading to more water loss. However, instrumental texture was unaffected by the treatments applied.