Beef Tenderization Using Bacterial Collagenase Isolated from Slaughterhouse
Indonesia’s beef production is still below the market demand which is caused by the low quality of the meat. The parameter of beef quality that could increase the taste and sale price consists of tenderness, juiciness, color, and fat content. Tenderness can be influenced by many factors, such as the structure of muscle and connective tissue constituent which can be degraded by using bacterial collagenase. Slaughterhouse waste is potentially used as the source of collagenase-producing bacteria. Thus, the study will be isolation and selection of bacteria from the waste that has the potential to produce collagenase for the beef tenderization process. Tendon collagen as the sole carbon and nitrogen source, an extracellular protease with the novel property of hydrolyzing beef tendon was purified. The molecular mass of the purified collagenase was estimated as72 kDa. The optimum temperature and pH for the collagenase activity were 20 °C and pH=7.5, respectively. Tendon was used as the substrate for determination of the soluble protein content. The obtained enzyme activity was 0,194mg / ml. The difference of the maximum test force value on the beef was 21%. The study assumes that the collagenase purified from isolated strain could be applied on the meat tenderization.