Table 2 shows the results of the calculations using Eq. (2); it indicates
the relative contribution of FCSA and ECS changes. At pH 4.3 the
global increase in cross sectional area (ΔAi/Ai) was higher than 20%.
However, this increase was the result of marinade infiltration between
the cells, since the ECS term increased more than FCSA decreased. In
line with Offer and Knight (1988), the FCSAf/FCSAi ratio is then minimumand
less than 1 due to the presence of Cl−ions bound tomyofibrillar
proteins. At pH 5.4, which is very close to that of the control, the
increase in FCSA was, as expected, greater at 2% NaCl content; at this
level the FCSA increase explains the entire cross sectional area increase.
From a practical point of view, it is interesting to compare 2 cases: ‘pH
4.3–NaCl 2%’ and ‘pH 6.5–NaCl 0.9%’. These both exhibited a global increase
in cross sectional area of 35%, but only the second case is likely
to be beneficial in practice for two reasons: (1) according to the conclusions
of Gault (1991) tenderization of beef meat when assessed after
cooking is mainly due to fibre transversal swelling and (2) Liu et al.
(2010, 2011) demonstrated that process yield (marinating and cooking)
was not improved when meat hydration is due to marinade infiltration