Beef muscles submitted to four enhancement treatments (1.88% whey protein concentrate (WPC)+1.25%
sodium chloride (NaCl); 1.88% modified whey protein concentrate (MWPC)+1.25%NaCl; 0.25% sodium tripolyphosphate
(STPP)+1.25%NaCl; 1.25%NaCl) and a control treatment (non-injected muscles) were sous
vide cooked. Muscles with STPP+NaCl presented a significantly higher total yield (106.5%) in comparison
to those with WPC/MWPC+NaCl (94.7% and 92.9%, respectively), NaCl alone (84.8%) or controls (72.1%).
Muscles with STPP+NaCl presented significantly lower shear force values than control ones; also, WPC/
MWPC+NaCl added muscles presented similar values than those from the other treatments. After cooking,
muscles with STPP+NaCl or WPC/MWPC+NaCl depicted compacted and uniform microstructures. Muscles
with STPP+NaCl showed a pink colour, meanwhile other treatment muscles presented colours between
pinkish-grey and grey-brown. STPP+NaCl added samples presented the highest values of global tenderness
and juiciness. The addition of STPP+NaCl had a better performance than WPC/MWPC+NaCl. However, the
addition of WPC/MWPC+NaCl improved total yield in comparison to NaCl added or control ones