Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026

Exploring the Longissimus Muscle: Unraveling its Correlation with Meat Quality in Bos indicus and Crossbred Bulls
Published on: July 12, 2024
Dietary vitamin E effect on color stability and sensory assessment of spoilage in three beef muscles
W K Chan1, K Hakkarainen, C Faustman
1Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Abstract:
Effects of dietary vitamin E supplementation (1204 IU/head/day) for 122 days on color stability and microbial load on beef m. longissimus lumborum (LL), m. gluteus medius (GM) and m. psoas major (PM) were studied by subjective and objective evaluation. Color stability of these muscles followed the order LL > GM > PM (p < 0.05). Vitamin E-treated LL, GM and PM showed less metmyoglobin formation, higher a(∗) values and lower hue angle values than controls during storage at 4 °C (p < 0.05). Sensory evaluation demonstrated that panelists preferred the appearance of vitamin E-treated LL, GM and PM beef steaks. Vitamin E supplementation did not affect total microbial load on LL, PM and GM and did not influence panelists' olfactory assessment of microbial spoilage of beef. Endogenous α-tocopherol concentration and lipid stability of microsomal fractions of LL, GM and PM were greater (p < 0.05) in vitamin E-treated muscles relative to controls. There was no muscle effect on the pro-oxidant activity of microsomes towards oxymyoglobin oxidation (p > 0.05). Oxymyoglobin stability was greater in the presence of microsomal fractions obtained from vitamin E-treated muscle than in those from controls. Dietary vitamin E supplementation delayed oxymyoglobin oxidation in LL, PM and GM muscle and increased the color shelf-life of these muscles without affecting total microbial load.
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Spoilage of Food
Effects of EDTA on End-Point Detection Methods
In the visual method, metal-ion indicators (metallochromic dyes), which have distinct colors in their free and complex forms, are added to the mixture to signal the titration's end point. They form stable complexes with metal ions, but these complexes are weaker than the corresponding metal–EDTA complexes. As a result, EDTA...
Methods of Controlling Food Spoilage
Principles of Food Preservation
Pasteurization and Food Preservation
The Effect of Aging on Tissues

