Ke et al. [67] investigated the impact of citric acid on the tenderness, microstructure and oxidative stability of beef muscle. They initially reduced raw beef muscle pH with citric acid below the post-mortem pH (pH 5.5–3.5) to alter texture, followed by an increase in pH to reduce sourness while leaving citric acid in the muscle to inhibit lipid oxidation. Decreasing pH in beef with citric acid did not result in an increase in lipid oxidation rates when the beef was cooked. In addition, when the pH of the beef containing citric acid was increased back to the pH of the control meat lipid oxidation rates remained low compared to beef without citric acid, suggesting that the citric acid and not pH variations were responsible for decreasing lipid oxidation in cooked beef. Citrate can inhibit lipid oxidation by binding prooxidant metals via bonds formed between the metal and the carbonyl or hydroxyl groups of the citric acid molecule [43]. The citric acid acidification not only improved the water-holding capacity and tenderness of beef muscle, but also inhibited lipid oxidation induced by a combination of oxidative stress factors (e.g., acid pH, grinding, tumbling and heating).