Under the conditions of this study,we could confirm the advantages
of VSP over conventional VP methods with regard to purge and meat
colour stability. However, we could not confirm the negative effect of
VSP onmeat texture reported by some researchers, althoughwe believe
that methods used tomeasure texture properties in these studies could
have caused biassed results. Considering conventional VP methods,
portioning of primal cuts and VP at the processing plant followed by
extended ageing may have an advantage in colour stability overmethods
where VP primals are portioned and re-packaged after initial ageing.
However, no difference in purge is expected between the two methods,
but the consumer may benefit from slightly less purge when purchasing
the repackaged steaks as initial purge is removed during re-packaging.
The intention of vacuum packaging of individual portions is to present
and sell the products in their original packaging. Therefore, the small nonsignificant
differences in initial chroma among packaging treatments
means that the consumer may not observe any colour differences
between the packaging methods before cooking the product.