Quality of aged ewe meat in vacuum-packaging system for different storage periods

Abstract

Consumers believe tenderness to be most important organoleptic characteristic of meat. However, there is great variability in the tenderness of meat available to consumers; one method to reduce the variability and improve tenderness would be to promote meat aging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of aged ewe meat. The experiment was conducted at the State University of Londrina. It was used eighteen Santa Ines ewes. After slaughter, the Longissimus dorsi muscle were collected and subjected to treatment, three different aging times: zero, four and eight days at 5 ± 2°C. The increase in aging time caused a decrease in pH. The L*, a* and c* values increase linearly with the aging period. The b* and h* values showed a quadratic regression. The mesophilic and psychrotrophic count showed a linear increase. The myofibrillar fragmentation index showed a quadratic regression, and the shear force decreased linearly. In a sensory analysis, a difference in the odor intensity of the meat was observed. The microbiological count indicated that the meat was fit for consumption. The aging promoted improvements in the quality of sheep meat. Key words: Anaerobic, chroma, ovine, sensorial, tenderness ResumoOs consumidores acreditam que a maciez é a característica organoléptica mais importante da carne. No entanto, há grande variabilidade na maciez da carne disponível para os consumidores, um método de reduzir a variabilidade e melhorar a maciez seria promover a maturação da carne. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a qualidade da carne maturada de ovelhas. O experimento foi conduzido na Universidade Estadual de Londrina. Foram utilizadas 18 ovelhas da raça Santa Inês. Após o abate, o músculo Longissimus dorsi foram coletados e submetidos ao tratamento, três diferentes tempos de maturação: zero, quatro e oito dias a 5 ± 2 ° C. O aumento do tempo de maturação provocou uma redução no pH. Os valores de L *, a * e c* aumentam de forma linear com o tempo de maturação. Os valores b * e h * apresentaram uma regressão quadrática. A contagem de mesófilos e psicrotróficos apresentaram um aumento linear. O índice de fragmentação miofibrilar apresentou uma regressão quadrática, e a força de cisalhamento diminuiu linearmente. Na análise sensorial, uma diferença na intensidade de odor da carne foi observada. A contagem microbiológica indicou que a carne estava apta para consumo. A maturação promoveu melhorias na qualidade da carne de ovelhas.

Microbiological safety of aged meat

“…In reality, the temperature in the chilled storage most likely ranges from 0 to 4°C, depending on the efficiency of the system. Similar temperatures have been reported for pork and lamb (Table E.4) (McKenna et al, 2003;Holmer et al, 2009;Constantino et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2021).…”

“…Data on the parameters of the meat before ageing is lacking, although the pH is usually 5.5–5.8 for beef (Ahnstrom et al., 2006 ; Li et al., 2013 ; Owczarek‐Fendor et al., 2014 ; Stenstrom et al., 2014 ; Gudjonsdottir et al., 2015 ; Hulankova et al., 2018a ) and pork (Holmer et al., 2009 ) while Constantino et al. ( 2012 ) reported a pH of 5.6 for lamb. The rate and extent of post‐mortem tenderisation of beef depend on muscle type and processing conditions and there is no standard ageing time (Gagaoua et al., 2021 ).…”

Quality of fresh and aged meat from lambs fed peanut meal and glycerin

“…As stated by Constantino et al (2012), when the pH is low, the myofibrillar proteins are at their isoelectric point, which means that they have a similar amount of positive and negative charges and cannot bind to the water, thus moving to the surface and reflecting the light. This results in higher lightness values, as observed in the present study.…”