THE IMPACT OF DRY AND WET AGING ON PORK MEAT COLOUR.

The color of meat is the first criterion that consumers use to judge meat quality. For this reason, we decided to analyze the colorimetric differences produced by two different aging methods (dry aging and wet aging) on pork meat. The analyzed pork meat comes from pigs raised in an intensive system in Botoșani County, Romania. The colorimetric analyses involved the study of three colorimetric parameters (L*, a*, and b*) at multiple stages of aging, as follows: less than 24 hours from the start of aging, and on days 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 of aging. Colorimetric analyses were conducted on the meat's surface and in its cross-section. The instrument used for color measurements was the Konica Minolta CR-410 chromameter. The results obtained for the external color showed very significant differences (p < 0.001) between the types of aging for the L* and b* colorimetric parameters and significant differences (p < 0.05) for the a* parameter. In the meat cross-section, very significant differences (p < 0.001) were identified concerning the type of aging for the a* parameter and significant (p < 0.05) and distinctly significant differences for the L* and b* parameters, respectively. As for the differences identified between the type of aging and the progression of the aging period, the differences were very significant (p < 0.001) for all the studied parameters on the meat's surface, with the exception of the b* parameter, for which the differences were not significant (p > 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]