CHANGES OF PHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF MEAT DURING WET AGEING

Fresh meat quality can be improved by maturation. Maturation is ageing of fresh meat under controlled temperature conditions during a certain period of time thereby improving its sensorial and textural parameters. Ageing is a natural process and there are two maturation methods: wet and dry. Dry ageing produces a more flavourful product but wet ageing is characterized by a higher outcome of the products and a lower risk of microbial spoilage during maturation. The aim of this research was to investigate the changes of quality parameters of pork, beef and lamb meat during wet ageing. In the current research, the longest lumbar muscle (Musculus longissimus lumborum) of pork, beef and lamb was used. Meat was aged at the following conditions: vacuum packed in polyethylene/polyamide pouches and stored for 35 days at 2 +/- 1 degrees C. During wet ageing (on the 0, 7th, 14th, 21th, 28th, and 35th day) the following quality parameters were analysed: moisture content (LVS ISO 1442:1997), water activity (Novasina LabSwift-aw, Sweden), pH value (LVS ISO 2917:2004) and tenderness using TA.HD.Plus Texture Analyser (Stable Microsystems, UK). The obtained results indicated a pH value decrease in all meat samples during ageing (p<0.05). Observed results showed a very strong positive correlation between moisture content and water activity. The changes of water activity were not significant (p>0.05), it increased in pork and lamb meat, but decreased in beef meat. The apposite results were obtained regarding the hardness of meat samples, namely, pork hardness decreased during ageing, but increased for beef and lamb meat samples. Based on the results, wet ageing process is more suitable for pork meat.