ostriches were unknown but all birds were from the same farm,
and were thus assumed to have received similar diets and management conditions. Carcasses were chilled at 4±1 °C for a minimum of 24 h post-mortem. Iliofibularis muscles were removed from the carcasses after removal of external fat and epimysial connective tissue and were grouped equally for each of the 3 replications of the study. They were immediately transported to a commercial meat company (Bonfilet, Istanbul, Turkey) under hygienic conditions and processed immediately upon arrival.
Muscles were cut into pieces, about 2.5×2.5×2.5 cm cubes. The cubes were divided into five groups and were portioned into 200±5 g samples (randomly distributed, approximately 13 meat cubes per pack).