Abstract
We previously reported that the K0 value, which we have proposed as an index of freshness for edible meat, would be a suitable index as far as the freshness of beef and rabbit muscles is concerned.
This time, we have investigated the applicability of the K0 value to porcine and chicken muscles.
As a result, we found that inosine (HxR), hypoxanthine (Hx) and xanthine (x) accumulated in both muscles during cold storage. Of these three intermediates, HxR tended to accumulate faster in chicken muscle than in porcine muscle, and HxR accumulated in porcine muscle disappeared faster than in chicken muscle. The IMP content in the chicken muscle during cold storage was always less in quantity than the sum of the ATP, ADP and AMP contents.
Changes of ATP-related compounds in porcine and chicken muscles during cold storage showed distinct patterns different from those of beef and rabbit muscles, and could be categorized as falling midway between those of beef and rabbit muscles. From these results, we can safely conclude that the K0 value can be used as an index of freshness for porcine and chicken muscles, as well.
