Effect of pectin coating incorporated with guava leaf extract (Psidium guajava L.) on the stability of fresh beef steak

Summary This work evaluated the effect of a pectin‐based coating added with guava leaf extract on the quality and conservation of fresh beef during cold storage. Beef steak (CON), beef steak coated with pectin (PCB) and beef steak coated with pectin added with 5% guava leaf extract (PCB‐GLE) were evaluated for physical (weight loss, colour) and chemical (pH, lipid oxidation) parameters quality, as well as tissue modifications during 7 days of storage at 4 °C. PCB and PCB‐GLE showed the least weight loss, maintained the L* value and increased the a* value during the storage. Coated beef steaks showed lower lipid oxidation values during storage when compared with uncoated beef, highlighting samples covered with pectin coating added with guava leaf extract for the lowest TBARS indices during storage. Thus, the extract concentration added to the pectin coating showed potential antioxidant effect on beef steak. In fact, pectin‐based coating proved to be an excellent technology to improve the quality attributes of beef steak during refrigerated storage.