title: Muscle characteristics only partially explain color variations in fresh hams.
abstract: Fresh hams display significant lean color variation that persists through further processing and contributes to a less desirable cured product. In an attempt to understand the underlying cause of this color disparity, we evaluated the differences in muscle characteristics and energy metabolites across semimembranosus (SM) muscles differing in color variation. The L* (lightness) and a* (redness) values were highest and lowest (P<0.001), respectfully in the most caudal aspects of the muscle while the ultimate pH was the lowest (P<0.001). Correspondingly, this region possessed highest (P<0.01) glycolytic potential (GP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels but did not differ in the amount of myoglobin or myosin heavy chain type I isoform. These data show that differences in muscle may contribute to ham color variation but suggest other factors may mitigate or exacerbate these variances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stufft
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Elgin
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Matarneh
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Preisser
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: England
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Scheffler
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Penn State, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Litton-Reaves Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Electronic address: dgerrard@vt.edu.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Gerrard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063427:Food Quality; D057141:Food, Preserved / Q000032:analysis; D006019:Glycolysis; D000070633:Hamstring Muscles / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains / Q000378:metabolism; D024461:Myosin Type I / Q000378:metabolism; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D034421:Sus scrofa
chemical_list: D009211:Myoglobin; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D024461:Myosin Type I; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains
keywords: Color; Ham quality; Muscle; Pork