Abstract
Meat is one of the important dietary protein sources. However, meat becomes tough on heating, making it hard to be eaten by elderly people, who have decreased chewing and deglutition capacity. The aim of this study was to develop beef cooking methods for such consumers, using maitake (Grifola frondosa). The rupture stress of beef steamed at 70°C with maitake extract was significantly lower compared with that of untreated beef. Sensory evaluation showed that beef cooked under vacuum with maitake extract (mvp) was tender, but the surface of the beef was sticky. The tenderness of beef injected with maitake extract and cooked was the same as that of beef cooked by mvp method, but it was less sticky. SDS-PAGE and western blotting indicated that protease in the maitake hydrolysed myosin. These results suggested that beef injected with maitake extract had good texture and was easy to be eaten by elderly people.
