Consumer assessment of the effect of electrical stimulation on the colour and colour stability of Semimembranosus muscles

Abstract

The influence of effective low voltage electrical stimulation on the colour stability of beef topside ( semimembranosus) muscles, during storage and retail display was studied using objective measurements and subjective assessments. Earlier results obtained from objective measurements demonstrated that during a three day retail display period, stimulated topsides had a greater loss of colour than non-stimulated topsides, and primal cuts aged for 33 days at 0 °C before display suffered faster changes to colour during retail presentation than cuts aged for 5 days. To relate results obtained using objective methods to consumer perceptions of meat quality, consumer perceptions of samples of meat displayed for 3 days in the retail cabinets of a major local supermarket were recorded. A total of 960 consumers were asked to evaluate topside steaks for meat and fat colour, meat discolouration and acceptability. During 3 days of retail display, consumers did not perceive differences in the extent of discolouration of topside steaks from electrically stimulated and non-stimulated carcasses; for the majority of the treatment groups (high or low pH muscles, 5 or 33 day ageing, 1–3 day retail display) there were no significant differences, for any of the scored attributes, between stimulated and non-stimulated samples. However, for samples in the fresh (5 days ageing), high pH (5.8–6.0) treatments group, lean meat colour and acceptability for the stimulated samples were, on some of the days on display, given significantly ( P < 0.05) better ratings by the consumers than those from corresponding non-stimulated samples.