The Effect of PSE and Non-PSE Adductor and Semimembranosus Pig Muscles on the Occurrence of Destructured Zones in Cooked Hams

Martina Eliášová,Matej Pospiech,Bohuslava Tremlová,Zdeněk Pavlík,Alena Saláková,Josef Kameník

doi:10.1155/2017/6305051

Martina Eliášová, Matej Pospiech + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6305051

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse pig muscles used in the production of cooked hams with a view to the occurrence of PSE-type defects and their potential effect on the frequency of destructured zones in finished products. One hundred and six samples of m. adductor (AD) and m. semimembranosus (SM) pig muscles were studied. The two kinds of muscle differed from each other in terms of their pH values and colour (L⁎: lightness, a⁎: redness, and b⁎: yellowness); these differences between the two categories were statistically significant (P<0.001). The AD muscles were divided into meat with PSE (pale, soft, and exudative) defects and non-PSE meat by sensory examination. A total of 44.3% of AD muscles showed PSE defects. Lightness L⁎ fell within a range of 50.68–55.23 in non-PSE meat (AD) and was statistically significantly lower (P<0.001) than in PSE meat (56.25–58.78). Drip loss (AD) was higher (P<0.001) in PSE meat (4.83–6.27%) than in non-PSE meat (3.53–5.0%). Cooked hams prepared from pig muscles showed evident destructured zones when sliced, the number and overall area of which were not affected by the occurrence of PSE defects in the raw meat used.

Highlights

Cooked hams are popular meat products in Europe and throughout the world [1,2,3]
The basic raw meat used in the production of cooked hams is pork leg which is comprised of a number of anatomically different muscles
Pork Quality Standards [31] were used for the subjective evaluation

Summary

Introduction

The basic raw meat used in the production of cooked hams is pork leg which is comprised of a number of anatomically different muscles. PSE (pale, soft, and exudative) defects are most commonly encountered in pork meat [4]. PSE defects cause a serious economic problem in the production of cooked hams [5,6,7]. Efforts have been made for a number of years to reduce the occurrence of PSE meat and to find reliable indicators (pH, colour, texture, electrical conductivity, etc.) that would make it possible to identify such defects before processing. Final products with improved properties that are acceptable to the consumer can be obtained by separating PSE meat from defect-free meat showing the standard parameters of fresh meat [4]

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