The effect of gaseous ozone on the surface color of chicken
breast is shown in Table 3. There was no significant effect of
gaseous ozone exposure on the CIE a* value (redness) of
chicken breast during storage. Additionally, inoculation
with ST did not affect (P > 0.05) the CIE a* value. The CIE
a* value of all samples was significantly decreased at 1 day
of storage, followed by a stable value thereafter. Our finding
contradicts Cardenas et al. (2011) and Stivarius et al.
(2002), who found lower a* values in beef subjected to
ozone exposure. This contradiction might be related to the
myoglobin content in muscle. Chicken breast meat is categorized
as white muscle due to the lower content of myoglobin
(Judge et al. 1989). Ozone and other ROS are strong
oxidants of myoglobin (Bekhit et al. 2013). Myoglobin oxidation
produces metmyoglobin, which causes the discoloration
of meat characterized by reducing red coloration
(Mancini and Hunt 2005). This effect of ozonation is not
observed in white muscle.