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Article

Changes in Water Holding Capacity and Shear Force in Fallow Deer Muscles during Ageing

by
Monika Modzelewska-Kapituła
* and
Tomasz Żmijewski
Department of Meat Technology and Chemistry, Faculty of Food Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Cieszyński 1, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 3228; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053228
Submission received: 17 February 2023 / Revised: 28 February 2023 / Accepted: 1 March 2023 / Published: 2 March 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Game and Venison: Welfare, Safety, Quality and Nutrition Value)
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Abstract

:
The aim of the study was to determine changes in water-holding and water-binding capacities in relation to the tenderness of fallow deer semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles during ageing. In the study, muscles obtained from 18-month-old farm-raised fallow deer bucks were used. The quality of the meat was determined during ageing for 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h post slaughter. It was noted that ageing had a negative effect on water retention in fallow deer meat. It decreased the ability of meat tissue to bind added water (p < 0.01) and increased cooking losses (p < 0.01), though it also increased tenderness (p < 0.01). Generally, SM showed lower (p < 0.001) tenderness than LTL. SM and LTL muscles were similar in terms of free water content, ability to bind added water, and cooking losses (p > 0.05). The way the meat was heated (cooked in water vs. roasted in the dry air) affected only cooking losses (p < 0.05), which were higher in roasted samples but had no effect either on volume loss or meat tenderness. In conclusion, the main factor affecting the water holding and binding capacities, as well as fallow deer meat tenderness, is ageing. The time enough to obtain tender meat is 168 h for LTL, whereas SM should be aged for 288 h.

1. Introduction

Meat and meat products are an essential part of the human diet worldwide. They provide highly valuable proteins, minerals, and vitamins. However, there are many issues related to the industrial production of animals, including environmental and health ones, which are linked with the applications of antibiotics and hormones in animal breeding. Moreover, many nonprofit organizations try to persuade consumers that meat consumption is not necessary for maintaining good health. All of these make consumers more cautious about the industrial production of slaughter animals and they are beginning to look for more environmentally friendly alternatives [1]. The alternative might be venison. Although the consumption of venison in Europe is low [2], there are countries in which the demand for game meat is greater than the number of animals harvested during hunting [3]. Therefore, the production of venison under farm conditions might be a solution [3]. The cervid species, which are the most frequently raised under farm conditions in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North America are red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) [1]. According to Polish law and regulations, commercial deer farms might have been established since 2001 due to changes in the act on the organization of breeding and reproduction of farm animals, which classified deer species, including fallow deer, to be farm animals, which could be bred in captivity (Polish Law Gazette 2001 no. 129, position 1438 [4]). The number of red deer and fallow deer farms in Poland increases continuously from 369 in 2010 to 857 in 2021 [5]. In cervid farms, animals from newborns to adults have appropriate living conditions and well-balanced nutrition, which guarantee their welfare and good physiological status [6].
Generally, the fallow deer is a cervid species that inhabits all European countries. Apart from farms and reserves, they inhabit forests and parks [7]. Wild-living fallow deer meat shows some advantages over farmed ones, including higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) [3]. However, when the animals are harvested in forests and eviscerated under field conditions, the meat might show relatively high microbial contamination [8]. Therefore, postslaughter processing of farmed-raised cervids in meat processing plants is beneficial from a hygienic perspective, meat quality, and safety.
The quality of fallow deer meat has been studied in terms of chemical composition, including fatty acid composition [9], the content of tocopherols, β-carotene and retinol [10], and minerals [11], in relation to living conditions (e.g., free range, organic, and conventional farming), sex, or body weight. However, no extensive studies on the water holding capacity (WHC) and water binding capacity (WBC) of fallow deer meat during ageing in relation to the tenderness of cooked meat are available. WHC is the ability of fresh meat to retain its own water during storage, transport and processing, including cutting, grinding, heating, etc. [12]. WHC is one of the most important factors, which affects the economic value and quality of meat, due to the fact that it has an impact on raw meat weight changes during transport and storage, drip and thawing loss, weight and volume losses during heating, and juiciness and tenderness of the meat [13]. It might be determined based on drip loss, purge loss, thawing and cooking losses, and free water content. The meat obtained from fallow deer carcasses might be used for culinary applications, as well as the production of meat products such as fermented sausages [14], dry-cured hams [15] and cooked hams and sausages. In all of these cases WHC plays an important role in shaping a product’s quality and profitability of production. In turn, water binding capacity (WBC) is the ability of meat tissue to bind added water during meat processing in such operations as injection curing or tumbling in the production of cooked ham.
Therefore, the present study was aimed at investigating the effect of ageing time on the hydration properties (WHC and WBC) of fallow deer muscle tissue of semimembranosus and longissimus thoracis et lumborum in relation to Warner–Bratzler shear force values, and cooking and volume losses of muscles subjected to cooking in water and roasted in dry air. The sampling times of 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h were chosen based on the following assumptions: at 48 h early post mortem changes in meat tissue have already occurred and rigor mortis has passed making the meat suitable for culinary purposes, whereas at 288 h meat is fully aged and of high quality, yet without any signs of deterioration or becoming stale. The timepoint of 168 h was chosen as the time between those two points to monitor the curse of post mortem changes and to assess if 168 h is enough to obtain good quality. A hypothesis that LTL and SM muscles need a similar time to tenderize was also tested.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Material

Muscles used in the study were purchased from a local farmed-raised fallow deer meat supplier (54°13′49″ N 22°20′37″ E, Gospodarstwo Ekologiczne Rodziny Rudziewiczów, Zatyki, Poland). The muscles originated from eight carcasses of farm-raised fallow deer bucks, approximately 18 months old and with an average body weight of 42 kg, as described in detail in Żmijewski et al. [11]. After the slaughter, semimembranosus (SM, n = 8), and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL, n = 8) muscles were cut from every right half-carcass after 48 h of chilling. Each muscle was divided into three samples of approx. 350 g each. One was subjected to analyses and the other two were separately vacuum-packaged (PA/PE, 70 µm thickness, Inter Arma sp. z o.o., Rudawa, Poland) and stored for 168 h and 288 h post mortem at 4 ± 1 °C until measurements of the following attributes were determined: water binding capacity (WBC), free water, cooking loss at 50 °C and 90 °C. The samples were subjected to thermal treatment (cooking and roasting), and Warner–Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF), cooking and volume losses were determined.

2.2. Physico-Chemical Methods

Values of pH were measured directly in the muscle tissue using a dagger electrode dedicated to pH measurements in meat tissue (PHM-80 pH-meter, Radiometer, Copenhagen, Denmark). Before measurements, the device was calibrated using pH 5 and pH 7 buffers. Three measurements per sample were recorded.
Water holding capacity (WHC) was determined as the free water content in raw meat, cooking losses during heating meat samples at 50 °C and 90 °C, and cooking losses after boiling and roasting of the meat. The free water content was determined by the Grau and Hamm method [12]. Samples of 0.3 g of ground meat were placed on a filter paper between two glass tiles. A weight of 2 kg was applied to each sample for 1 min. and samples were removed from the filter paper and weighed immediately in order to calculate the change in their weight (%). All analyses were performed in triplicate. To estimate cooking losses at 50 °C and 90 °C, meat samples were ground through a 4 mm mesh (meat grinder ZMM4080B, Zelmer, Warsaw, Poland) and balls of 10 g were prepared (n = 6 for each muscle sample) and wrapped in gauze. Three balls from every sample were prepared and cooked at 50 °C and 90 °C for 20 min. After that, the samples were left to cool down at room temperature for 20 min., weighed and cooking loss was calculated.
WBC was determined using ground meat by low-speed centrifugation, according to the method proposed by Wierbicki et al. [16] and modified by Kauffman et al. [17].
To determine cooking and volume losses as well as WBSF in fallow deer meat, two samples (approx. 100 g and 2.5 cm thick each) from each muscle and carcass were prepared and subjected to cooking in water (water bath temperature 95 ± 1 °C, meat:water ratio 1:2) and roasting in the dry air in an oven at 180 ± 1 °C. The heating was conducted until a temperature of 70 ± 1 °C was achieved in the centre of the meat samples. The temperature in meat samples was measured using an electronic thermometer with a stainless steel probe for food products (185108 Bioterm, Browin, Łódź, Poland).
Cooking loss in cooked and roasted samples was calculated as the difference in sample weight before and after thermal treatment and it was expressed as a percentage of the initial sample weight [18]. Volume loss was calculated as the difference in sample volume before and after thermal treatment and it was expressed as a percent of the initial sample volume. The volume of meat samples was determined by immersing them in water in a measuring cylinder (500 mL) and recording the change in the volume of water.

2.3. Statistical Analysis

The experiment had a 2 × 3 factorial design (muscles: SM and LTL; ageing: 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h) and the results were processed in the Statistica 13.3 program (Tibco Software Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA). Effects of fixed factors (muscle, ageing, and thermal treatment method) and random factors (carcass) on WBC, free water, WBSF, cooking, and volume losses were evaluated by variance component analysis and a mixed ANOVA/ANCOVA model (df was calculated with Satterthwaite’s approximation formula). The results were not affected by the carcass (p > 0.05). The mean values were compared using Tukey’s HSD test. A cluster analysis was performed to show similarities between SM and LTL muscles aged for a different time from 48 h to 288 h and the results were shown as a dendrogram (single linkage; Euclidean distance—nonstandardized). To study relations between ageing time, WHC, WBSF, and losses, Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated using the correlation matrices modulus in Statistica 13.3 (Tibco Software Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA).

3. Results

3.1. Changes in pH during Ageing

Starting from 24 h postslaughter, pH values were monitored in SM and LTL muscles and the results are presented in Figure 1. Values of pH ranged from 5.55 to 5.81 during ageing and muscle type affected pH up to 48 h with lower values (p < 0.05) determined in LTL. An increase in pH values was noted in both muscles. In SM muscle it was significant between 168 h and 288 h and in LTL pH differed significantly between 48 h and 168 h, as well as between 168 h and 288 h (Figure 1, p < 0.05).

3.2. The Ability to Retain Own and Added Water

Free water content, which refers to the ability of muscle tissue to retain its own water, was not affected by either muscle type or ageing and no differences were noted (Table 1). WBC, which indicates the ability of muscle tissue to bind added water, was affected by ageing time (p < 0.01) and interaction between ageing and muscle type (p < 0.05, Table 1). Generally, WBC decreased over time and significant differences were noted in the muscles aged for 48 h and 288 h. However, the trend was noted only in the LTL muscle (Figure 2).

3.3. Thermal-Treated Fallow Deer Meat

The cooking loss determined at 50 °C was affected by ageing (p < 0.01) and it was higher in meat aged for 168 h and 288 h than in samples aged for 48 h. However, no significant differences between treatments (muscles and ageing times) in terms of cooking loss were noted when the heating was conducted at 90 °C (p > 0.05, Table 2). It was noted that cooking losses in samples subjected to either cooking in water or roasting in dry air were affected by ageing time though not by muscle type (Table 2). In the water-cooked samples, an increase in cooking loss was noted between 48 h and 168 h (p < 0.01), whereas in samples roasted in dry air, an increase proceeded continuously and each sample differed from another (p < 0.001).
During ageing, a decrease in WBSF values was noted (Table 2). In the cooked and roasted samples, the WBSF values were affected also by muscle type (higher values were noted in SM than LTL, p < 0.001) and moreover, in the cooked samples, an interaction between muscle and ageing time was noted (p < 0.01, Table 2). At the beginning of the storage period (48 h), cooked SM and LTL muscles showed a similar WBSF, however after 168 h and 288 h, significantly lower WBSF values were noted in LTL (p < 0.05, Figure 3). Moreover, in cooked and roasted SM muscle a significant decrease in WBSF was noted between 168 h and 288 h, whereas in cooked and roasted LTL, it was between 48 h and 168 h. This indicates that SM muscle from fallow deer carcasses is less tender than LTL muscle and requires more time to tenderize. There was no effect of the thermal treatment method on WBSF in fallow deer meat and no differences were noted in cooked and roasted WBSF values determined in the same muscle at the same sampling point.
The thermal treatment method (cooking vs roasting) affected significantly (p < 0.05) only cooking loss, whereas volume loss and WBSF values of fallow deer meat were unaffected (Table 3). The cooking losses of roasted meat samples were about two percentage points higher than noted for cooked samples.

3.4. Similarities between LTL and SM Muscles Aged for Different Times

A cluster analysis showed similarities between LTL muscles aged for 288 h and 168 h and SM aged for 288 h (Figure 4). This suggests that SM muscles might acquire a similar quality (hydration properties, WBSF, cooking losses) to LTL if an appropriate ageing time is applied. On the other hand, LTL muscle aged only for 48 h was similar to SM ageing for 48 h and 168 h.

3.5. Correlations

In Table 4, Pearson’s coefficients for correlations between ageing time, hydration properties (WBC, free water, and cooking losses), WBSF and volume losses are presented. There was a significant positive correlation between ageing time and cooking losses (at 50 °C in cooked and roasted samples), while negative correlations were noted between ageing time and WBC and WBSF (in cooked and roasted samples) (p < 0.05). These findings indicate the predominant role of ageing in shaping meat tenderness, regardless of the way the meat is further processed (cooking or roasting), as well as its ability to bind water, which gets lower along with ageing time. Furthermore, some significant correlations (p < 0.05) were noted between the studied attributes such as a negative moderate correlation between WBC and free water, as well as WBC and cooking loss at 50 °C. The cooking loss at 90 °C and volume loss in the roasted samples were not correlated with either time or WHC attributes (Table 4).

4. Discussion

Generally, the ultimate pH value measured 24 h post mortem is one of the most important quality indicators in meat since it provides information not only about the physiological state of the animals and the course of postslaughter changes (glycogen depletion) but also about other technological attributes such as colour, tenderness, water holding capacity and shelf-life [1,19]. In the present study, the pH value was measured during the ageing period to provide additional information, which might help explain changes in the water-holding capacity of fallow deer muscles. The mean value of pH24 h in SM and LTL falls in the range typical for fallow deer meat (5.4 to 6.0) [1]. It was believed that in the muscles of the venison which suffered from stress before slaughter (e.g., transport to the slaughterhouse or dog hunting), the pH value was higher compared with less-stressed animals [1]. However, currently, there is a lot of evidence that the way of slaughter doesn’t affect the pH value significantly [20,21]. This might indicate that the relation between preslaughter conditions and ultimate pH in the meat of venison is more complex than in farmed species (beef or pigs) [1]. A significant increase in pH in SM and LTL muscles along with the ageing time was noted, however, the values were still in the range for normal quality meat. A similar observation was noted by Ludwiczak et al. [22] during 14 day cold storage vacuum-packed fallow deer meat from 5.56 to 5.69 in LTL muscle and from 5.54 to 5.70 in SM. However, as it was shown by Bykowska et al. [19], the pH value of fallow deer SM and LTL muscles might remain unchanged during storage for up to 15 days. Although significant, this pH increase in the present study was too small to affect WHC. Generally, the increase in the pH value of meat tissue is related to a higher WHC due to changes in the net charge in muscle proteins [23], however, in the present study, an increase in WHC during ageing was not found.
According to Hughes et al. [24] water-holding capacity increases with ageing time, which is indicated by lower drip and centrifugation losses. This stays in agreement with the findings of our earlier study conducted on beef, where the decrease in free water content (%) was noted during 20 days of ageing [25]. However, in the present study, there was no significant relationship between free water content and time. In contrast, Bykowska et al. [19] reported a decrease in free water content in SM and LTL fallow deer muscles during ageing up to 15 days postslaughter, thus an increased WHC was noted. WHC in fresh meat is related to the state of myofibrillar proteins, including cytoskeletal proteins. In post mortem, they undergo degradation, which leads to damage in connections between myofibrils and the connection of costamers to the cell membrane. This in turn enables the retention of water in the muscle cells, which would be expelled to the extracellular space as a result of myofibril shrinkage if these connections were intact. Therefore, based on the results of the present study, it might be concluded that a high WHC (a low free water content) might result from faster post mortem changes in fallow deer meat compared to beef. Fallow deer meat (LTL and SM) muscles showed a high WBC (the ability of meat to bind added water), however, it decreased during the ageing time. This might be explained by the oxidation of muscle proteins, which reduces their functionality [26]. The oxidation process depends on the antioxidant capacity of the meat and might differ between animals and also between muscles of the same carcass [26]. Based on the results of the present study, where no differences between SM and LTL muscle in WBC were noted for the same sampling time, it might be concluded that the antioxidant capacity in these muscles was similar. However, a significant decrease in WBC in LTL between 48 h and 288 h was noted, which might suggest that the oxidation of proteins proceeded faster than in SM. Nevertheless, both fallow deer muscles used in the study showed a high WBC, which indicated that they might be used in the production of processed products such as cold meats, which are usually cured by the injection of brine. Since WBC decreases during the ageing time, it should be taken into account when designing the production protocol to obtain a standardized product and production efficiency.
In the study, SM and LTL muscles showed a similar WHC, including free water contents, and cooking losses. This stays in agreement with the findings of Ludwiczak et al. [22], who reported that there were no significant differences in free water content, purge loss, thaw loss, drip loss, and losses during roasting between SM and LTL muscles of 14 day vacuum-stored fallow deer muscles. Moreover, as it was reported by Ludwiczak et al. [22], cold storage of fallow deer meat enables the preservation of its quality better than frozen storage. On the other hand, results reported by Bykowska et al. [19] indicated that drip loss and cooking loss decreased in SM and LTL fallow deer muscles during storage.
As a result of cooking, meat loses its mass in a temperature- and time-dependent manner [24]. Indeed, in the present study, higher losses in ground meat were noted in samples cooked at 90 °C compared to 50 °C. Moreover, cooking loss at 50 °C was affected by ageing time, which was not observed at 90 °C. These results might be important for meat processors since, in gastronomy practice, a temperature of 50 °C might be used in the sous-vide technique [27], which enables obtaining tender and juicy products from every carcass part [28]. The increased cooking loss in samples heated at 50 °C aged for 168 h and 288 h compared to those aged only for 48 h, as well as those subjected to cooking in water and roasting in dry air, might be explained by the fact that during the ageing process, the protein structure in meat becomes weaker and therefore less capable of retaining water during cooking [24]. Cooking losses increase along with a cooking temperature up to 80 °C, which is related to the temperature of denaturation of muscle protein (e.g., actin 70–80 °C, titin 75–78 °C) [24], which explains the lack of muscle or ageing effect in samples of the fallow deer meat cooked at 90 °C in the present work.
In the present study, cooking loss at 50 °C, as well as those noted after cooking and roasting of fallow meat samples, were affected by ageing time and increased over time, however, no differences between SM and LTL muscles occurred. Ludwiczak et al. [22] also reported a similar cooking loss for roasted SM and LTL fallow deer muscles aged 14 days. However, the value of cooking loss obtained after roasting (air temperature 180 °C, time 30–45 min, a core temperature of 70 °C) in their study was approximately 40%, therefore lower than reported in the present study. Moreover, the loss did not increase in the time of storage.
It is well established that, as a result of ageing, meat becomes more tender due to the action of proteolytic enzymes, mainly calpaines [29]. Tenderness is a crucial meat attribute which affects consumer decisions about the purchase of a certain meat type [30]. In the present study, tenderness was evaluated instrumentally via the determination of WBSF. As expected, WBSF values decreased during the ageing process, which indicated tenderness improvement. WBSF values recorded in the present study for SM and LTL fallow deer muscles were slightly higher than those reported by Ludwiczak et al. [22] (27N and 24N, respectively, after 14 days of ageing). Moreover, no difference between SM and LTL was noted. In the present study, SM muscle after cooking in water and roasting in the dry air was less tender than LTL. Similar findings were noted in terms of the tenderness of thermally processed SM and LTL muscles originating from beef carcasses [31,32,33]. This results from different locations of SM and LTL muscles in the carcass and different functions in a live animal [31]. Indeed, in the present study, SM and LTL differed in terms of WBSF, which also contributed to the results of cluster analysis. The results highlight the effectiveness of ageing in shaping the quality of fallow meat cuts obtained from different carcass parts and might be implemented in the gastronomy practice to standardize the quality of finished fallow deer products offered to consumers.
The main outcome of correlation analysis was a linear relation between WBSF and ageing time between 48 h and 288 h post slaughter, which was expected since ageing is a well-known method of meat tenderization. Correlations between chemical composition, colour and WHC in fallow deer SM muscle were studied by Stanisz et al. [34]. They reported that free water content was correlated only with the b* colour attribute (in CIEL*a*b* colour space). Moreover, free water content was not correlated with thermal drip (meat samples heated at 75 °C for 30 min.), which stays in agreement with the results of the present study, in which no correlation between free water content and cooking loss at the temperatures of 50 °C, and 90 °C (comminuted samples), as well as cooked and roasted samples was noted. This finding indicates that these parameters (free water and cooking loss) are not directly related to each other but also give information about different meat attributes. Among WHC attributes (free water, cooking loss at 50 °C, and cooking loss at 90 °C) cooking loss determined on comminuted meat samples at 50 °C showed the highest number of significant correlations. It was positively correlated with ageing time, cooking losses of cooked and roasted meat, whereas negatively with WBC, and the WBSF of roasted meat blocks, which indicates its usefulness in providing information about the quality of meat in contrast to cooking loss at 90 °C, which was not correlated with any other studied attribute. Nevertheless, predicting cooked meat’s quality based on the WHC of raw meat and cooking loss might be misleading due to the fact that the correlation between the WHC of raw meat, the cooking loss, and the product’s juiciness is weak [24].

5. Conclusions

The effect of ageing on water retention in fallow deer meat was found—it decreased the ability of meat tissue to bind added water and increased cooking losses. However, it also increased the tenderness. Muscle type did not affect free water content, ability to bind added water, and cooking losses, however, SM and LTL muscles differed in WBSF. The way the meat was heated (cooked in water vs. roasted in dry air) affected only cooking losses, which were higher in roasted samples, though it had no effect either on volume loss or meat tenderness. In conclusion, the main factor affecting water holding and binding capacities, as well as fallow deer meat tenderness, is ageing. The ageing of LTL might be finished after 168 h, whereas SM should be aged for 288 h.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, T.Ż.; methodology, T.Ż.; investigation, T.Ż.; resources, T.Ż.; data curation, M.M.-K.; writing—original draft preparation, M.M.-K.; writing—review and editing, T.Ż.; visualization, M.M.-K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The dataset used during this study is available from the author upon a reasonable request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Applsci 13 03228 g001 550
Figure 1. Changes in pH during ageing of semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) fallow deer muscles. a–c—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05.
Figure 1. Changes in pH during ageing of semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) fallow deer muscles. a–c—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05.
Applsci 13 03228 g001
Applsci 13 03228 g002 550
Figure 2. Water binding capacity in semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles aged for 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h (a,b—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05; vertical bars refer to the standard error of the mean).
Figure 2. Water binding capacity in semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles aged for 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h (a,b—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05; vertical bars refer to the standard error of the mean).
Applsci 13 03228 g002
Applsci 13 03228 g003 550
Figure 3. Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) in cooked and roasted semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles aged for 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h (a–d—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05 in cooked muscles; u–z—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05 in roasted muscles; vertical bars refer to the standard error of the mean).
Figure 3. Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) in cooked and roasted semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscles aged for 48 h, 168 h, and 288 h (a–d—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05 in cooked muscles; u–z—mean values with different letters differ significantly at p < 0.05 in roasted muscles; vertical bars refer to the standard error of the mean).
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Applsci 13 03228 g004 550
Figure 4. Similarities between semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) fallow deer muscles aged for a different time from 48 h to 288 h.
Figure 4. Similarities between semimembranosus (SM) and longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) fallow deer muscles aged for a different time from 48 h to 288 h.
Applsci 13 03228 g004
Table
Table 1. The effect of muscle and ageing on free water content and water binding capacity (WBC) in fallow deer meat (mean values and standard error of the mean in brackets).
Table 1. The effect of muscle and ageing on free water content and water binding capacity (WBC) in fallow deer meat (mean values and standard error of the mean in brackets).
AttributeMuscle (M)Ageing (A)p-Value
SMLTL48 h168 h288 hMAM × A
Free water (%)9.39 a (0.65)7.86 a (0.53)7.79 x (0.60)8.67 x (0.83)9.42 x (0.77)NSNSNS
WBC (%)34.70 a (1.25)34.83 a (2.18)39.95 x (1.55)34.67 xy (2.31)29.67 y (1.80)NS***
SM—semimembranosus muscle; LTL—longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle; a—mean values with a common letter do not differ significantly between muscles; x,y—mean values with different letters differ significantly between ageing times; NS—nonsignificant differences; *—a difference significant at p < 0.05; ** a difference significant at p < 0.01.
Table
Table 2. The effect of muscle and ageing on cooking and volume losses and Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) in cooked and roasted fallow deer meat (mean values and standard error of the mean in brackets).
Table 2. The effect of muscle and ageing on cooking and volume losses and Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) in cooked and roasted fallow deer meat (mean values and standard error of the mean in brackets).
AttributeMuscle (M)Ageing (A)p-Value
SMLTL48 h168 h288 hMAM × A
Cooking loss 50 °C (%)13.21 a (0.67)12.72 a (0.42)11.43 y (0.43)13.52 x (0.63)14.88 x (0.63)NS**NS
Cooking loss 90 °C (%)28.27 a (0.96)29.21 a (0.44)29.97 x (0.50)27.73 x (1.18)27.78 x (1.16)NSNSNS
Cooking loss cooked (%)37.46 a (1.26)37.27 a (1.20)33.13 y (0.69)39.27 x (1.41)42.24 x (0.86)NS**NS
Cooking loss roasted (%)39.51 a (1.12)40.50 a (1.11)36.40 z (0.77)41.12 y (1.15)44.66 x (0.92)NS***NS
Volume loss cooked (%)36.73 a (1.17)37.57 a (0.92)36.30 x (1.05)36.50 x (1.61)39.18 x (1.19)NSNSNS
Volume loss roasted (%)37.75 a (0.87)40.00 a (1.12)38.42 x (1.15)37.80 x (1.28)40.68 x (1.29)NSNSNS
WBSF cooked (N)49.42 a (2.33)34.56 b (2.39)48.28 x (2.53)41.29 xy (4.32)32.62 y (2.73)*******
WBSF roasted (N)49.80 a (2.10)33.62 b (2.61)49.82 x (2.49)40.56 y (3.70)29.89 z (2.60)******NS
SM—semimembranosus muscle; LTL—longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle; a,b—mean values with a common letter do not differ significantly between muscles; x,y,z—mean values with different letters differ significantly between ageing times; NS—non-significant differences; ** a difference significant at p < 0.01; *** a difference significant at p < 0.001.
Table
Table 3. The effect of muscle, ageing and thermal treatment method on cooking loss, volume loss, and Warmer–Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) in fallow deer meat (mean values and standard error of the mean in brackets).
Table 3. The effect of muscle, ageing and thermal treatment method on cooking loss, volume loss, and Warmer–Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) in fallow deer meat (mean values and standard error of the mean in brackets).
Muscle (M)Ageing (A)Thermal
Treatment (TT)		p-Value
SMLTL48 h168 h288 hCookingRoastingMATTInt.
Cooking loss (%)38.49 (0.85)38.88 (0.85)34.54 y (0.83)40.20 x (1.45)43.10 x (0.82)37.46 w (1.26)39.51 u (1.12)NS****NS
Volume loss (%)37.24 (0.72)38.78 (0.74)37.10 (1.03)35.96 (1.53)38.74 (1.33)36.73 (1.17)37.75 (0.87)NSNSNSNS
WBSF (N)47.64 b (1.42)32.76 a (1.49)49.05 x (1.75)40.76 y (2.15)30.79 z (1.38)40.32 (1.82)40.08 (1.81)******NSM × A *
SM—semimembranosus muscle; LTL—longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle; a,b—mean values with different letters differ significantly between muscles; x,y,z—mean values with different letters differ significantly between ageing times; u,w—mean values with different letters differ significantly between thermal treatments; values without letters do not differ significantly (p > 0.05); NS—nonsignificant differences; * a difference significant at p < 0.05; *** a difference significant at p < 0.001; Int.—interaction.
Table
Table 4. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between variables determined in the study in fallow deer meat.
Table 4. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between variables determined in the study in fallow deer meat.
AgeingWBCFWCL50CL90WBSF/CCL/CVL/CWBSF/RCL/RVL/R
Ageing −0.38 *0.090.63 *−0.31−0.53 *0.77 *0.26−0.65 *0.75 *0.20
WBC−0.38* −0.45 *−0.40 *−0.030.04−0.28-0.280.13−0.15−0.25
FW0.09−0.45 * 0.140.140.070.260.35 *0.12−0.010.11
CL500.63*−0.40 *0.10 0.20−0.110.47 *0.17−0.35 *0.52 *0.26
CL90−0.31−0.0250.140.20 0.16−0.280.170.14−0.190.22
WBC—water binding capacity; FW—free water; CL50—cooking loss at 50 °C; CL90—cooking loss at 90 °C; WBSF/C—Warmer–Bratzler shear force value in cooked meat; CL/C—cooking loss in cooked meat; VL/C—volume loss in cooked meat; WBSF/R—Warmer–Bratzler shear force value in roasted meat; CL/R—cooking loss in roasted meat; VL/R—volume loss in roasted meat; *—correlations significant at p > 0.05.
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Modzelewska-Kapituła, M.; Żmijewski, T. Changes in Water Holding Capacity and Shear Force in Fallow Deer Muscles during Ageing. Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 3228. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053228

AMA Style

Modzelewska-Kapituła M, Żmijewski T. Changes in Water Holding Capacity and Shear Force in Fallow Deer Muscles during Ageing. Applied Sciences. 2023; 13(5):3228. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053228

Chicago/Turabian Style

Modzelewska-Kapituła, Monika, and Tomasz Żmijewski. 2023. "Changes in Water Holding Capacity and Shear Force in Fallow Deer Muscles during Ageing" Applied Sciences 13, no. 5: 3228. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13053228

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