LAUSR

This study investigates how the use of a combination of high-pressure treatment, steak marination and active packaging influences beef color and shear stress. A 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design was applied, including pressure, marination, packaging and storage time. Many significant interactions among factors were found, but the effects of pressure and marination were so high that the effect of packaging was almost undetectable. Independent of storage type, pressurized treatments presented higher values for both L* and hab than unpressurized treatments, and independent of pressure application, the increase in L* and hab with storage time was higher for marinated treatments than for unmarinated treatments. In unpressurized samples, marination provoked an increase in L*, a* and hab and a decrease in Cab∗, whereas in pressurized samples, marination had no effect on color. Pressurized samples always showed higher values for shear stress (on average 71% higher) than unpressurized samples.