Effects of salt and ammonium hydroxide on the quality of ground buffalo meat

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ammonium hydroxide (AH) and sodium chloride on the quality of ground buffalo meat patties. Ground buffalo meat was treated with distilled water (control), 0.5% v/w AH, 1.0% v/w AH, 2.0% v/w AH and 1.0% w/w sodium chloride was added for all the samples. Treatment with AH increased (P<0.05) the pH and water holding capacity (WHC) of ground buffalo meat patties during storage relative to their controls. Hunterlab a* (redness) and chroma values increased (P<0.05) and hue decreased (P<0.05) in all AH treated samples in comparison to controls during storage. Ammonium hydroxide significantly (P<0.05) inhibited metmyoglobin formation compared to control after 3rd day of storage. There was a significant (P<0.05) reduction in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values in all AH treated samples compared to control throughout storage. These results indicate the potential antioxidant and myoglobin redox stabilizing effect of AH in ground buffalo meat patties.