Abstract：Response surface methodology with Box-Behnken design was applied to optimize high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment parameters affecting the contents of total myoglobin and pigments in fresh beef. A quadratic polynomial model for each response variable was established and validated. The experimental results indicated that pressure, dwell time and temperature, varying in the ranges of 200 to 400 MPa, 5 to 15 min, 4 to 24℃, respectively, were all identified as significant factors that influence the response variables in decreasing order of significance. Based on the contents of total myoglobin and pigments as well as total plate count (which should be lower than 5 (lg (CFU/g)), the optimal processing parameters were 306.66 MPa, 5 min and 4℃for pressure, dwell time and temperature, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the total myoglobin amount, consisting of 16.59； deoxymyoglobin, 44.12； oxymyoglobin and 20.56； metmyoglobin, was 0.159 0 mmol/L, the color evaluation score was 5.29, and the total plate count was 4.84 (lg (CFU/g)).
2014, Vol. 28 
