Relationships between pH values and some physico-chemical and colour traits of quail breast meat

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this study was to establish variation ranges of breast meat рН24, water holding capacity (WHC), water absorption capacity (WAC), and colour (CIEL*a*b*) in domestic quails and to analyze the patterns of relationships between рН24 and muscle hydrophilic and colour characteristics in the studied dataset. The investigation summarizes the results of two research experiments performed on breast muscle (M. pectoralis) from 151 domestic quails. It was found that the studied dataset was relatively homogeneous (CV<30%). The least dispersion was shown for рН24 and L* traits (CV of 3.8% and 8.3%, respectively). The analysis of results demonstrated that hydrophilic properties (WHC, WAC) and colour characteristics (L*, a* and b*) of M. pectoralis depended on рН24 values. With the exception of the association between рН24 and WAC, which was positive, all other correlations were negative. According to the present study, the correlation between рН24 and WHC was weak, and only 6.6% of breast muscle WHC depended on change in рН24 values. The breast meat WAC and colour characteristics were largely dependent on рН24, as more than 40% of their variation was determined by the tested factor.

Keywords

• domestic quails
• breast muscle
• correlations
• ph
• whc
• wac
• l*a*b*