Free amino acids, collagen solubility, and meat quality in pork (longissimus muscle of Yorkshire) as a function of chiller temperature and aging

This study was conducted to identify the effect of chilling temperature (-3 and 6°C) and aging (1- and 7-day) on objective meat quality, collagen solubility, and free amino acids in pork (longissimus muscle of Yorkshire). Warner-Bratzler (WB)-shear force indicated that variation in chilling temperature had no detectable effect on meat tenderness and tenderization during the 7-day aging period. Among the 13 detected free amino acids, only 3 amino acids (histidine, valine, leucine) were significantly affected by the temperature treatment (p<0.05). Collagen solubility was significantly increased at 6°C treatment (p<0.05). There was a significant linear relationship (r=0.67, p<0.05) between changes in free amino acids and WB-shear force during the 7-day aging period. These results confirmed that chilling conditions had significantly affected collagen solubility, and meat tenderization occurred in direct proportion to an increase in free amino acids.