Effect of temperature and pH on postmortem color development of porcine M. longissimus dorsi and M. semimembranosus

BACKGROUND Purchasing pork that is boned within 1 h postmortem and not aged is customary in China, and final pork color would not be fully realized. The relationship between early postmortem, pre‐rigor meat color and 24 h postmortem, post‐rigor pork color was investigated and related to the rate of pH and temperature decline within the longissimus dorsi ( LD ) and the semimembranosus ( SM ) muscles of pork carcasses. Muscle color, pH and temperature were measured at 45 min and at 3, 9, 15 and 24 h postmortem in carcasses of F 2 White Duroc and Chinese Erhualian pigs.RESULTS Pork color at 45 min postmortem was not indicative of that at 24 h postmortem in LD and SM , although muscle pH values and temperature at 45 min postmortem were significantly correlated with the LD and SM ultimate color. High muscle pH was associated with decreased L *, whereas high muscle temperature increased L *. Muscle pH and temperature had little effect on a * and b * in LD and color evolution in SM .CONCLUSIONS Results indicated that meat color inspected shortly after slaughter does not reflect post‐rigor meat quality. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry