Water Retention Improvement in Frozen Bullfrog Meat: Evaluating Basic Amino Acids as Clean-Label Phosphate Alternatives

Water Retention Improvement in Frozen Bullfrog Meat: Evaluating Basic Amino Acids as Clean-Label Phosphate Alternatives | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Water Retention Improvement in Frozen Bullfrog Meat: Evaluating Basic Amino Acids as Clean-Label Phosphate Alternatives Ji Li, Shuangxi Guo, Bo Wei, Denghui Liu, Guang Yang, Jing Zhao, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677380/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The thigh meat of bullfrogs holds significant economic value, yet its supply in frozen form, due to seasonal availability and processing constraints, often results in a substantial decline in water holding capacity (WHC), thereby compromising meat quality. While traditional phosphate treatments effectively enhance WHC, they are increasingly scrutinized for potential health risks, fueling the demand for clean-label alternatives. This study explores the potential of the basic amino acids L-arginine (Arg) and L-lysine (Lys), which are GRAS-approved meat flavour precursors, as clean-label phosphate replacers in frozen bullfrog thigh meat. These amino acids were tested both individually and in combination with NaCl under controlled pH conditions. Compared with the negative control, 1% Arg + 1% Lys + 2% NaCl lowered centrifugal loss from 40.77% to 29.22% (P < 0.05), reaching a level comparable to the acidity regulator (WP) though slightly less effective than the 26.55% observed in the phosphates group. Structural analyses reveal that these amino acids modify the secondary structure of myofibrillar proteins, boosting their solubility and diminishing hydrophobicity. Thus, L-arginine and L-lysine emerge as highly promising, safe, and effective phosphate alternatives, poised to enhance the WHC of frozen bullfrog thigh meat while aligning with the growing consumer preference for clean-label declarations. Bullfrogs Phosphate alternatives L-arginine L-lysine Water Retention Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8677380","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":589608305,"identity":"4fcf50ef-d369-4d39-bda6-f68b3894de0c","order_by":0,"name":"Ji Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jiangnan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ji","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":589608306,"identity":"708aafda-8210-452f-8d37-016b8721e472","order_by":1,"name":"Shuangxi Guo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Haihongda (Beijing) Catering Management Co., 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Retention","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677380/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677380/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe thigh meat of bullfrogs holds significant economic value, yet its supply in frozen form, due to seasonal availability and processing constraints, often results in a substantial decline in water holding capacity (WHC), thereby compromising meat quality. While traditional phosphate treatments effectively enhance WHC, they are increasingly scrutinized for potential health risks, fueling the demand for clean-label alternatives. This study explores the potential of the basic amino acids L-arginine (Arg) and L-lysine (Lys), which are GRAS-approved meat flavour precursors, as clean-label phosphate replacers in frozen bullfrog thigh meat. These amino acids were tested both individually and in combination with NaCl under controlled pH conditions. Compared with the negative control, 1% Arg\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;1% Lys\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;2% NaCl lowered centrifugal loss from 40.77% to 29.22% (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), reaching a level comparable to the acidity regulator (WP) though slightly less effective than the 26.55% observed in the phosphates group. Structural analyses reveal that these amino acids modify the secondary structure of myofibrillar proteins, boosting their solubility and diminishing hydrophobicity. Thus, L-arginine and L-lysine emerge as highly promising, safe, and effective phosphate alternatives, poised to enhance the WHC of frozen bullfrog thigh meat while aligning with the growing consumer preference for clean-label declarations.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Water Retention Improvement in Frozen Bullfrog Meat: Evaluating Basic Amino Acids as Clean-Label Phosphate Alternatives","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-16 09:23:18","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8677380/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2849f18c-c768-4431-8913-24d8904cc8db","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 16th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-18T05:53:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-16 09:23:18","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8677380","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8677380","identity":"rs-8677380","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}