Total Pigments and Myoglobin Concentration In Four Bovine Muscles

Abstract

SUMMARY—This research was to determine whether quantitative differences in total pigment and myoglobin concentration could be detected, chemically, in muscles which differed in visual color. For this purpose, a portion of the longissimus dorsi, psoas major, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus muscles was removed at specific locations, from choice‐grade steer carcasses, for use as experimental material. Each muscle was subjected to total pigment, myoglobin, fat, and moisture analysis. Hemoglobin content was determined by the difference between total pigment and myoglobin concentrations, Correction of total pigment and myoglobin concentration for fat and/or moisture was used to determine its influence upon the variation in the quantity of muscle pigmentation.Precise results were obtained with the total pigment and myoglobin procedures. Total pigment concentration was greatest in the biceps femoris and least in the semitendinosus. Little difference was obtained between the longissimus dorsi and psoas major. Myoglobin concentration, in decreasing order of magnitude, for the muscles studied was biceps femoris, longissimus dorsi, psoas major, and semitendinosus. The difference between myoglobin and total pigment concentration in the psoas major muscle was a result of hemoglobin constituting a greater portion of the total pigmentation. Results also indicated that hemoglobin contributed more to total pigment concentration and probably to muscle color than previously reported. The significance of the results obtained was not altered by correcting the data for fat and/or moisture.