Effectiveness of Carica (Carica pubescens) marinade on buffalo meat physicochemical

Abstract

Abstract Carica (Carica pubescens) is a type of mountain papaya that contains the enzyme papain and is proteolytic. Carica fruit also contains flavonoids, alkaloids, polyphenols, and tannins that have antibacterial properties. Buffalo meat has a rough texture, is tough, dark red, and has a distinctive flavour. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of Carica marination on the physicochemical quality of buffalo meat. This study used a completely randomised design with 4 treatments and 6 replicates. The treatments in the study consisted of C0: without Carica marination, C1: buffalo meat marination using 15% Carica, C2: buffalo meat marination using 30% Carica, and C3: buffalo meat marination using 45% Carica. The results showed that marinating buffalo meat using Carica had a very significant effect (P˂0.01) on pH and tenderness and a significant effect (P˂0.05) on protein content, moisture content and cooking shrinkage. The best treatment was sample C2 with pH 5.65, cooking loss 26.3%, moisture content 69.3%, protein content 20.8% and tenderness 0.0560 mm/g/s. This study concluded that 30% Carica marinade effectively improves the physicochemical quality of buffalo meat. Carica can potentially develop as a tenderiser in the meat product industry in a sustainable manner.