Effect of l-Arginine or l-Lysine on the Quality of Duck Meat Patties during Freeze-thaw Cycles

In this study, the effects of L-arginine or L-lysine on the quality of duck meat patties during repeated freeze-thaw cycles were studied to provide a theoretical basis for the application of L-arginine or L-lysine as cryoprotectant in meat products. L-arginine or L-lysine was added in the marinating process of duck meat patties, and the prepared duck meat patties was treated with freeze-thaw cycles. The texture, cooking loss, color, pH, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS), low-field nuclear magnetic resonance, and microstructure were measured to evaluate the quality of duck meat patties. The results showed that with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles, the hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, a^* value, pH and P₂₁ of duck meat patties in the blank group decreased significantly (P<0.05), while the cooking loss, TVB-N value and TBARS value increased significantly (P<0.05). After five freeze-thaw cycles, L-arginine or L-lysine significantly inhibited the deterioration of duck meat patties quality (P<0.05), and the cooking loss of duck meat patties in L-arginine group was 13.23% and 6.93% higher than those in blank group and Sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) group, respectively (P<0.05). In addition, after five freeze-thaw cycles, the TVB-N value and TBARS value of L-arginine group were 41.92% and 63.47% lower than those of blank group (P<0.05), respectively, which were the lowest among the four groups. Therefore, the L-arginine or L-lysine treatment could effectively inhibit spoilage, the oxidation of fat, improve water retention, and maintain good quality characteristics of duck meat patties.