The development in L*, a* and b* values during the 5 days of
storage are shown in Fig. 2. The L* value was initially lowest in steaks
stored 3 days postmortem (V0M0) and highest in steaks aged in MAP
for 10 days (V5M10). Overall, the L* values were constant during
storage, except for steaks stored at 3 days postmortem (V0M0), where
the L* value increased during the first 3 h and further during the last
day of storage. The a* value was initially lowest in steaks stored 3 days
postmortem (V0M0), slightly higher in steaks aged for 5 days in
vacuum (V5M0) and highest in steaks in the other three ageing
systems. The a* value increased during the first 3 h of storage in steaks
stored 3 days postmortem (V0M0) and in vacuum aged steaks (V5M0
and V15M0), but did not change in MAP steaks. Then, the a* value
remained rather constant or decreased during storage to the lowest
value in steaks aged for 15 days in vacuum as well as MAP (V15M0
and V5M10). The b* value initially increased during the first day of
storage in steaks stored at 3 days postmortem (V0M0) but then
remained almost constant or decreased slightly during storage.