Study on Meat Discoloration Based on Storage Effect and pH Factor Using Square Wave Voltammetry

Abstract

The overarching objective of this project is to discover the electrochemical features of meat discoloration under various point-of-sale meat conditions. The bright red color of meat plays a key role in influencing consumers to purchase meat. The discoloration of meat is causing high economic loss around the globe. Here, we used a square wave technique to observe redox peaks in beef sarcoplasm with the incubation time to diagnose discoloration focusing on the point of sale. The first investigation was centered on the storage effect on discoloration where normal pH beef sarcoplasm (post mortem) showed a rising trend of peaks that correspond with a growing accumulation of metmyoglobin and decumulation of oxymyoglobin intensifying the rate of discoloration. The second study was done by comparing discoloration of beef meat at two pH conditions, pH 7.4 (physiological state) and pH 6.4 (stressed animal muscle). Notably, a substantial elevation in the oxidation peak signal was observed from the pH 6.4 sample compared to the pH 7.4 counterpart, with discoloration. Furthermore, the UV spectral absorbance of meat samples was used to calculate the percentage of oxy- and metmyoglobin contents to gain independent insights. From these studies, we can gain a fundamental understanding of the redox processes of beef upon discoloration and thus develop novel tools to detect meat spoilage and discoloration rates. Keywords: Beef sarcoplasm, square wave voltammetry, metmyoglobin, oxymyoglobin