Abstract
Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis), a popular South African game species, has significant potential in meat production. Considering the importance of fresh meat color on consumers’ purchasing intent, the objective of this study was to evaluate the color stability of 3 economically important springbok muscles, infraspinatus (IS), longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL), and biceps femoris (BF). The IS, LTL, and BF muscles from both sides of 12 (6 male and 6 female) springbok carcasses were utilized. The muscles were fabricated (72 h postmortem) into 2.5-cm thick steaks, which were aerobically over-wrapped and stored for 8 d at 2°C. Surface color, myoglobin redox forms, pH, metmyoglobin reducing activity, total iron content, and myoglobin concentration were evaluated. Data were analyzed using mixed model repeated measures ANOVA. The IS exhibited greater (P < 0.05) redness, chroma, color stability, pH, oxymyoglobin content, and met-myoglobin reducing activity than its LTL and BF counterparts. Moreover, metmyoglobin formation and total iron content were lower in IS than in LTL and BF. The IS demonstrated stable redness and chroma throughout the storage, whereas the LTL and BF exhibited a steady decline. The results indicated that springbok IS muscle was the most color stable, while the LTL and BF did not differ in color stability from each other. These findings also suggested that muscle-specific processing methods could be utilized to improve retail color stability for fresh meat from springbok.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Meat and Muscle Biology |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 American Meat Science Association.
Funding
This work is based on the research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No. UID 84633). Any opinion, finding and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the author(s), and the National Research Foundation does not accept any liability in this regard. The assistance provided by the staff and post graduate students from the Departments of Animal Sciences and Food Science, Stellenbosch University, is appreciated. This is publication number 18–07–079 of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station and is published with the approval of the director.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station | |
| Danish National Research Foundation | UID 84633 |
| Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India |
Keywords
- color stability
- game meat
- muscles
- myoglobin
- springbok
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Food Science