Meat color: Factors affecting color stability

Abstract

Color is the most important characteristic determining the shelf life of meat. The state of myoglobin is the main factor in meat color. Discoloration of fresh meat is an inevitable event. Several preslaughter and postslaughter factors can affect the color of fresh meat and its stability. Temperature is the most important factor affecting the color stability. Several strategies can be employed to improve the stability of the color and the shelf life of the meat. The degree of success of these strategies is largely dependent on the meat source (species and cut) as well as on the value of the product.