Effects of phosphate in combination with nitrite or Maillard reaction products upon warmed-over flavor in precooked, restructured beef chuck roasts

The effectiveness of a phosphate compound alone in combination with other antioxidants in preventing warmed-over flavor (WOF) in precooked recombined beef roasts was investigated. Treatments without phosphate had significantly different proximate composition due to lower yields and higher cooking losses and received lower tenderness and juiciness scores from the sensory panel. WOF scores and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values were lower (P < 0.05) for the phosphate treatments. A correlation coefficient of 0.96 was obtained between panel scores and TBA numbers. The panel threshold for WOF was 1.6 TBA value. Results indicate phosphate alone was effective in preventing WOF in vacuum packaged precooked roast beef.