Retail Packaging Affects Colour, Water Holding Capacity, Texture and Oxidation of Sheep Meat more than Breed and Finishing Feed.

Minh Ha,Eric N Ponnampalam,Robyn Dorothy Warner,Caitlin King,Sida Wu

doi:10.3390/foods11020144

Minh Ha, Eric N Ponnampalam + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11020144

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Abstract

This study investigated the CIELab colour, water holding capacity, texture and oxidative stability of sheep meat from different breeds, finishing feeds, and retail packaging methods. Leg primal cuts from a subset of Composite wether lambs (n = 21) and Merino wether yearlings (n = 21) finished on a standard diet containing grain and cereal hay, a standard diet with camelina forage, or a standard diet with camelina meal, were used in this study. Semimembranosus and Vastus lateralis were packaged in vacuum skin packaging (VSP), or modified atmosphere packaging with 80% O2 and 20% CO2 (HioxMAP), or with 50% O2, 30% N2, and 20% CO2 (TrigasMAP). Packaging had a greater effect (p < 0.001) on L*, a*, b*, hue, and chroma than the effects from breed and finishing feed. Purge loss was affected by packaging. Cooking loss was affected by breed for Semimembranosus and packaging for both muscle types. HioxMAP and TrigasMAP increased WBSF and Texture Profile Analysis hardness of the meat compared to VSP. Lipid oxidation, assessed by TBARS, were lower in camelina forage or camelina meal supplemented diets and TrigasMAP compared to standard diet and HioxMAP, respectively. Total carbonyl and free thiol content were lower in VSP. Thus, supplementing feed with camelina forage or meal and lowering oxygen content in retail packaging by TrigasMAP or VSP are recommended to ensure optimal sheep meat quality.

Highlights

In the sheep meat supply chain, quality traits such as colour, water holding capacity, texture, and oxidative stability are determined by various factors, including breed, finishing feed, and retail packaging method
3 SCM = standard pelleted diet containing 8% camelina meal (SCM). 4 High-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging (HioxMAP) = high-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging with 80% O2 and 20% CO2; 5 TrigasMAP = trigas modified atmosphere packaging with 50% O2, 30% N2 and 20% CO2; 6 For Vastus lateralis from a Composite sheep, fed with standard pelleted diet containing grain and cereal hay, and packaged in vacuum skin packaging
This study shows that the storage of lamb under high (80%) and moderate (50%) oxygen environments for 10 days significantly reduces the colour stability of both Semimembranosus and Vastus lateralis, when compared to lamb stored in vacuum skin packaging (VSP)

Summary

Introduction

In the sheep meat supply chain, quality traits such as colour, water holding capacity, texture, and oxidative stability are determined by various factors, including breed, finishing feed, and retail packaging method. High-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging (HioxMAP), using 70−80% O2 and 20−30% CO2, is a common meat retail packaging method due to its ability to maintain the “fresh” cherry red colour of meat. Extensive research has shown an increased oxidation and lower eating quality of meat in HioxMAP compared with vacuum skin packaging (VSP) [1,2,3]. Trigas modified atmosphere packaging (TrigasMAP) is a more recently developed method in which oxygen is partially substituted with an inert gas, e.g., nitrogen, and has shown promising results in improving the eating quality and shelf life of meat [4]. Camelina seed is known to contain essential fatty acids, such as alpha-linolenic acid and different phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and proanthocyanidins, which provides an opportunity to improve the oxidative stability of meat [8]

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