Phosphates and Muscle Fiber Type Influence Thermal Transitions in Porcine Salt‐Soluble Protein Aggregation

Salt‐soluble proteins (SSP) were extracted from porcine Serratus ventralis (red), Vastus intermedius (red) and Longissimus dorsi (white) muscles and heated to examine dynamic changes and transitions in protein aggregation. At pH 6.0, red muscle SSP typically showed 1 or 2 transitions and white muscle SSP exhibited 3 transitions. Addition of ortho‐, pyro‐, tripoly‐ and hexametaphosphate up to 1% increased SSP transition temperatures and altered transition patterns; NaCl at comparable ionic strengths did not show this effect. SSP transitions were most affected by 0.15‐0.25% tripolyphosphate and low pH (<6.0). Red and white SSP exhibited different thermal properties and responses to phosphate treatments. These findings indicate red and white muscle types should undergo different processing treatments for optimum quality meat products.