Meat quality attributes of venison and beef “semimembranosus” muscle stored at −1.5 C for 4 weeks were compared. Chilled venison had lower L*, a*, b*and chroma compared to beef. Percent expressible water (PEW), shear force and cook loss were lower in venison compared to beef. μ‐Calpain activities at pH 7.4 and 5.5 were higher and the activity of μ + m‐calpain at pH 5.5 (and not at pH 7.4) was lower in venison compared to beef. L*, a*, b*and chroma in meat from both species increased with chilled storage time (P < 0.01); the increase was higher in beef compared to venison. μ‐Calpain activities at pH 7.4 and 5.5 in venison increased in the first week of storage and then declined in the second while it decreased with time in beef at pH 7.4 and followed similar trend as venison at pH 5.5. Activities of μ + m‐calpain at pH 7.4 and 5.5 decreased with chilled storage time in both types of meat. Shear force decreased with storage time, raw meat PEW increased in the first week and cook loss increased for the first 2 weeks of storage and then declined thereafter in both meats. Within the parameters of this study, the table‐eating quality of venison improved and its color deteriorated faster in chilled storage compared to beef implying that the processing inputs required to maximize meat quality of beef may not be suitable for venison and vice versa. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The following are some of the practical applications of this research: (1) process variables for optimal quality of table beef and venison differ, processors should tailor their process specifically for each specie; (2) venison producers who supply distant markets should consider the rapid rate of tenderization of venison to avoid supplying products with poor texture resulting from over tenderization; (3) the practice of packaging meat under high oxygen environment to enhance color may affect the quality of venison more than other red meats because of the rapid rate of oxidation in venison relative to these meats; (4) the rapid deterioration in the color of venison underscored the need to come up with a way of convincing the consumer to accept the browner color of venison as an inherent characteristic of this meat in order to minimize any bias against the meat because of its color; and (5) the use of fluorogenic substrates for determining calpain activities if further validated in other studies can be used for the online prediction of tenderness early postmortem.

The oxygen scavenging capacity of four commercially available iron-based oxygen scavengers was studied. Individual oxygen scavenger sachets were placed in pouches and filled with 1%, 2%, 6%, 12% or 22% oxygen, 40% carbon dioxide and balance nitrogen, and stored at 3°C or 10°C, with or without a drip pad infused with water and monitored over 24 h. The four scavengers all reduced oxygen from the packs at the oxygen concentrations and temperatures tested. However, for all of the conditions measured, the scavengers did not absorb their nominal capacity in the 24-h period. In anoxic modified atmosphere packaging of beef steaks, it is essential to reduce residual oxygen levels to below 0.05% as quickly as possible to minimise the formation of metmyoglobin. While the scavengers tested were effective in removing oxygen, the rate of removal would appear not to be fast enough to create the anoxic conditions required to prevent metmyoglobin formation in beef steaks, particularly in those cuts, which are highly susceptible to metmyoglobin formation. Reproducibility was also a critical issue for the scavengers, particularly at low oxygen concentrations. None of the scavengers had a coefficient of variation of less than 20% at the low oxygen concentrations. Therefore, to obtain consistent results, it is recommended that multiple scavengers be used.

The effect of low oxygen storage followed by three aerobic display treatments on color, visual lean color acceptability, microbiological counts and sensory attributes of four beef muscles (M. longissimus thorasic et lumborum (LTL), M. semimembranosus (Sm), M. psoas major (PM) and M. gluteus medius (GM)) was investigated. Low oxygen, gas flushed steaks and vacuum‐packed primals were stored for 3 weeks. At display, packs were either perforating or the steaks were wrapped in an oxygen permeable film. The LTL steaks bloomed at display resulting in a 3 day display life compared to 2 days for the control. The Sm, GM and PM steaks failed to bloom due to oxidation of myoglobin to metmyoglobin during storage. Microbiological and sensory parameters were satisfactory for all muscles and all treatments. Thus, lean color was the limiting factor in the success of this system, which was successful for long term storage of the LTL steaks only.

Changes in color and metmyoglobin fraction on the surface of M. longissimus lumborum (LL), M. semimembranosus (Sm) and M. psoas major (PM) steaks were assessed during a 1‐week storage under an ultra‐low‐oxygen atmosphere (with/without an oxygen scavenger). Sm and PM muscles had a redder and more highly saturated color than the LL muscle throughout the storage period. LL steaks had lower percentage metmyoglobin and oxymyoglobin, and higher percentage deoxymyoglobin than Sm and PM steaks. These differences were present from the time of packing. A significantly higher percentage of metmyoglobin formed on all muscles stored without an oxygen scavenger between 72 and 168 h compared with muscles stored with an oxygen scavenger (P < 0.05). The additional metmyoglobin formation on steaks stored without an oxygen scavenger, suggests that differences in headspace composition existed, however, these differences were not detected by the gas chromatography method used in this experiment.

Effect of different oxygen concentrations on blooming ability of aged beef longissimus lumborum (LL) steaks was examined. Six LL primals were stored for 2 weeks under vacuum followed by display under 2, 5, 10 or 20% oxygen (experiment 1). In addition, six primals were cut into steaks and individually stored under an ultralow‐oxygen modified atmosphere (MA), followed by display under 5, 10 or 20% oxygen (experiment 2). Color measurements (L*, a*, b*, chroma [C*] and hue angle) were recorded at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 24 h of display. The steaks from experiment 1 displayed at 10 and 20% oxygen showed similar a* and C* values (P > 0.05) to aerobically displayed steaks (control), indicating that a minimum level of 10% oxygen was required for blooming. In experiment 2, similar (P > 0.05) a* and C* values were found between steaks displayed under 10 and 20% oxygen treatment and between 20% oxygen and control treatments. This finding suggests that steaks stored under ultralow‐oxygen MA required a higher level of oxygen (between 10 and 20% oxygen) for blooming compared with steaks stored under vacuum.