Meat in the three lairage groups had lower L⁎ values than the group without rest. In general, the a⁎ values of both muscles tended to increase as lairage time increased, while b⁎ values did not differ among these groups.
As expected, the force required to cut through BF samples was higher compared to LD samples, and shear force values were affected by lairage time. The shear force values increased as lairage time increased, yet no difference was found between pigs resting 3 h and pigs without rest.
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