The researchwas carried out on muscle samples of 15 animals for each
of the three following species: cattle (Longissimus dorsi, Semimembranosus
and Semitendinosus), pig (Longissimus dorsi) and chicken (Pectoralis
major). The samples (15 for each muscle) were chosen to obtain a large
variability in terms of composition, structure and color. The variability
was obtained by examining three species and, as to cattle, three different
muscles. The age of the animal was about 18 months for cattle, 7 months
for pigs and 50 days for chicken. The samples were analyzed about seven
days post mortem for beef, four days for pork and three days for chicken.
We selected the samples in a retail setting.
Before color analysis, freshly cutmeat samples, about 2.00 cmthick in
beef and pork and 1.5 cm in chicken, were individually placed on white
polystyrene foam trays with a consistent color and overwrapped with a
transparent PVC film permeable to oxygen (13,200 cc/m2/24h/bar).
Then they were placed in a bench refrigerator at 4 °C for 45 min to obtain
myoglobin oxygenation. The PVC film was removed before color
measurement.