Journal article
High pH in beef longissimus thoracis reduces muscle fibre transverse shrinkage and light scattering which contributes to the dark colour
J Hughes, F Clarke, P Purslow, R Warner
Food Research International | ELSEVIER | Published : 2017
Abstract
Most studies have focused on myoglobin regarding meat colour development, with little focus on the contribution of muscle structure and light scattering. Our aim was to investigate the pH-dependent changes in muscle structure, on the light scattering properties of the meat. Beef longissimus thoracis muscles were segregated into light, medium or dark colour groups (n = 18). ‘Dark’ muscles had a high ultimate pH (pHu), lower lightness (L*), redness (a*), higher myoglobin concentration and deoxymyoglobin content compared to other muscles. Reflectance confocal laser scanning microscopy (rCLSM) revealed ‘dark’ muscles had decreased global brightness (indicator of light scattering) and increased f..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors and CSIRO acknowledges funding provided by Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) and matching funds provided from the Australian Government, via Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), to support the research and development detailed in this publication. The support of Griffith University, in particular the Imaging and Image Analysis Facility is also gratefully acknowledged. We also acknowledge the technical assistance of Vicki Eggleston, Anita Sikes and Janet Stark. We also acknowledge the support of FONCyT (PRH-PICT 2013-3292).