Lipid oxidation was assessed by the 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBARS)extraction method of Lynch and Frei (1993). Core samples(1.0×1.0×1.0 cm meat block from the centre of the steak) from each sample, wrapped in tinfoil and snap frozen in liquid nitrogen,
were kept frozen (−20 °C) until analysed (btwo weeks). Analysis was conducted on 1 g of frozen core sample and the TBARS concentrations were calculated using 1,1,3,3-tetramethoxypropane (0–20 μM) as a standard and expressed as milligram malonaldehyde (MDA) per kilogram of meat.