Ascorbic acid minimizes lumbar vertebrae discoloration.

Ascorbic acid was evaluated as a way of preventing bone discoloration. In experiment 1, beef bone-in t-bone steaks (lumbar vertebrae and longissimus) were treated with 0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0%, or 1.5% ascorbic acid (n=10). Vertebrae and muscle color (L(*)a(*)b(*)) were evaluated initially and after 24 h in 80% O(2)/20% CO(2). Vertebrae treated with 0%, 0.05%, or 0.1% ascorbic acid significantly discolored while the longissimus maintained a bright-red appearance. Ascorbic acid treatments 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% significantly minimized vertebrae discoloration and neither induced nor prevented longissimus discoloration. In experiment 2, lumbar vertebrae were treated with 0%, 0.05%, 1.5%, or 2.5% ascorbic acid (n=15), packaged in 80% O(2)/20% CO(2), and displayed for five days (1 °C). Visual color was evaluated daily by a trained panel. Ascorbic acid treatment at 1.5% or 2.5% minimized lumbar vertebrae surface discoloration. Through a five-day display at 1 °C, lumbar vertebrae with 2.5% ascorbic acid had the least bone discoloration.