Quality characteristics and flavor compounds of pork meat as a function of carcass quality grade

• Published in: Animal bioscience Vol. 32; no. 9; pp. 1448 - 1457
• Main Authors: Hoa, Van Ba, Seong, Pil-Nam, Cho, Soo-Hyun, Kang, Sun-Moon, Kim, Yun-Seok, Moon, Sung-Sil, Choi, Yong-Min, Kim, Jin-Hyoung, Seol, Kuk-Hwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Asian - Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies 01-09-2019; Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) and Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology (KSAST); Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies; 아세아·태평양축산학회
• Subjects: Alcohols; Analysis; Customer satisfaction; Fatty Acid; Fatty acids; Flavor Compound; Meat Quality; Pork; Quality Grade; Quality management; Sensory Quality; Unsaturated fatty acids; 축산학; South Korea; Flavor Compound; Quality Grade; Meat Quality; Fatty Acid; Sensory Quality
• ISSN: 1011-2367; 2765-0189; 1976-5517; 2765-0235
• DOI: 10.5713/ajas.18.0965

The present work aimed at evaluating the effects of carcass quality grade on the quality characteristics of pork meat according to Korean carcass quality grade system.
Pork carcasses with varying in quality grades (QG): 1+ (QG1+, n=10), 1 (QG1, n=10) and 2 (QG2, n=10), were used to evaluate the relationship between carcass quality grade and meat quality. The meat quality traits, fatty acid profiles, flavor compounds and sensory qualities were measured on the longissimus dorsi muscle samples of these carcasses.
Pork meat of higher quality grade (GQ1+) presented significantly higher fat content (5.43%), C18:2n-6 level (19.03%) and total unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) content (62.72%). Also, the QG1+ meat was significantly higher in levels of classes of flavor compounds such as aldehydes, alcohols and hydrocarbons in comparison to those of the meat samples from the lower GQ groups. The sensory evaluation results (flavor, juiciness, tenderness and acceptability scores) of QG1+ meat was significantly higher than the QG1 and QG2 meats. The pork with lower QG (i.e., QG2) was found positively correlated to redness (r=0.987), C18:1n-9 level (r=1.000) but negatively correlated to the fat content (r=-0.949), and flavor (r=-0.870), juiciness (r=-0.861), tenderness (r=-0.862) and acceptability (r=-0.815) scores.
The pork with higher quality grade had higher fat content, total unsaturated fatty acids and better eating quality, thus producing pork with higher quality grades should be considered in order to satisfy the consumer's expectation.