Efficacy of reverse micellar extracted fruit bromelain in meat tenderization.

Reverse micellar extraction (RME) was used for
the separation and purification of bromelain from pineapple
core and efficacy of RME purified bromelain (RMEB) in
tenderization of beef meat was compared with that of commercial
stem bromelain (CSB). RME resulted in reasonably
high bromelain activity recovery (85.0 %) and purification
fold (4.0). Reduction in meat toughness was higher in RMEB
treated meat (52.1 %) compared to raw (control) and CSB
treated (26.7 %). Significant increase in water holding capacity
(WHC) was observed in RMEB treated meat (91.1 %) as
against CSB treated (55.6 %) and control (56.6 %). No change
in cooking loss was observed in RMEB treated meat, whereas
the loss increased by nearly 14.0 % in case of CSB treated.
While the meat color was retained, trichloroacetic acid (TCA)
soluble protein content increased due to hydrolysis of protein
in RMEB treated meat. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
analysis revealed that RMEB treatment completely ruptures
myofibril tissues, indicating a higher degree of tenderization.