RESEARCH ON CHANGES IN PORK QUALITY PARAMETERS FOLLOWING DIFFERENT AGING PROCESSES.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of aging time and method on the quality characteristics of three categories of domestic pork muscle (pork loin, collar and leg). The meat samples were evaluated at three aging periods, 1 day, 5 and 10 days, for pH, refrigeration losses and colour For the analysed samples were defined two methods of ageing: wet-ageing (WA) and dry-ageing (DA). Dry-aged samples showed significantly higher refrigeration losses compared to wet matured samples, losses which increased with the aging time, especially in the case of unpacked meat. The aging method induced significant differences (p < 0.05) in pH values, with vacuum-packed samples showing higher pH values compared to dry-matured samples. The highest pH values were noticed for the collar samples, with a maximum of 6.062±0.038 for the 10-day wet-aged batch. The wet-aged samples were brighter (L*) at all stages of maturation, but showed higher values for b* (yellowness) after 10 days of maturation. While the dry-aged samples were significantly redder (higher a*) after 10 days of aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]