This study was conducted to determine the optimal blooming time in beef muscles based on ΔE, and to analyze the effects of muscle type and ageing time on beef color and blooming. Beef color was determined on freshly cut longissimus lumborum (LL, n = 8) and semimembranosus (SM, n = 8) muscles on days 1, 9, and 14 of ageing during 60 min blooming at 5 min intervals. It was found that ΔE₀, representing the difference in color between freshly cut muscles and subsequently analyzed samples, supported the determination of the optimal blooming time, which varied across ageing times (15, 20, 25 min for the LL muscle, and 10, 15, 20 min for the SM muscle on days 1, 9, and 14 of ageing, respectively). Beef color was affected by both muscle type and ageing. The values of color parameters increased between days 1 and 9 of ageing. The results may have practical applications because beef should be presented to consumers and restaurant owners approximately 25 min after cutting, when its color has fully developed.

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of temperature and time combination on the quality of pikeperch fillets and to propose settings which allow high nutritional quality fish fillets to be obtained. The material for the study consisted of 24 farmed pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) fillets, which were evaluated raw and after sous vide (SV) cooking proceeded at 65 °C for 45 min (SV65), 75 °C for 20 min (SV75), and 90 °C for 10 min (SV90). The chemical composition was affected by SV procedure; SV90 was similar to raw samples in terms of moisture, protein, and fat content, whereas SV65 differed the most. Carnosine contents decreased in all SV samples compared with raw ones, and anserine only decreased in SV90. There were no differences in terms of fatty acid composition (% of total) between SV and raw samples. In SV75 and SV90 total viable counts, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus sp., and Staphylococcus sp. were reduced below a detection level but not in SV65. These samples also showed a better sensory quality than SV65. Therefore, SV75 and SV90 might be recommended for pikeperch fillets preparation, taking into account safety and nutritional aspects.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of ageing (9 and 14 days) on beef obtained from Polish Holstein-Friesian bulls (n = 24) fed different dietary treatments containing the addition of herbal preparations (treatments: control, one and two herbal preparations). Between the 9th and 14th day of ageing, moisture and expressible water contents, Warner–Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) and intensity of untypical taste significantly decreased, whereas redness, yellowness, chroma, intensity of meat aroma and tenderness increased. Interactions between ageing and dietary treatment on pH, expressible water, cooking loss and WBSF were noted. Using two herbal preparations in a dietary treatment enabled to obtain 9-days aged beef with similar tenderness as compared with 14-days aged beef from the control treatment. Therefore, it is possible to decrease the ageing time of beef by using a well-designed dietary treatment.

Meat semi-finished products that are portioned or not, meat with the addition of a different composition of spices and oil are a common element of the commercial offer in the convenient ready to cook food segment. During the refrigeration storage in this complex system of meat, oil and spices, there is a number of physicochemical changes, including hydrolytic and oxidative changes of the oil(1). The products of these reactions become integral components of the meat subjected to heat treatment. As a result of heating, secondary oxidation products of lipids may be formed which constitute a serious health risk(2). The study was aimed at determination of the effect of spices containing antioxidants and sulfur-organic compounds on hydrolytic and oxidative changes in the oil that formed the base of the marinade in which meat was kept. Pork neck was minced and formed into burgers (250 g), rapeseed oil (120 g) and spices (5 g) were used. Four research groups were analyzed meat / oil / spices system with rosemary, oregano, garlic or onion. Oil samples were collected on the third, fifth and eighth day of refrigerated storage. The control sample was the oil from the meat / oil system only. The quality of the oil was evaluated on the basis of the acid value, peroxide value and TBARS index. In the oil with onion, garlic, rosemary and oregano the hydrolytic changes on the 8th day of storage were significantly lower compared to the control. On the basis of the average peroxide value in oil marinades with the addition of rosemary and oregano, significantly lower values of this indicator were found when using rosemary (3.61 meq O2/kg) in comparison with oregano (6.01 meq O2/kg). The average of TBARS index in marinade with onions and garlic was lower by 31% and 48%, respectively. Also the use of rosemary and oregano was effective in blocking the formation of secondary oxidation products (rosemary even three times higher than that of oregano).

This study was conducted to compare the quality characteristics of White Kołuda goose breast muscle products, heated using the sous vide (SV) and the convection–steam oven (OV) methods. The qualitative analysis included instrumental evaluation of texture and colour parameters and the content of histidine dipeptide anserine. The research material consisted of breast muscles without skin, heated using the sous vide (SV) method at 65 °C for 4 h and 10 h and in a convection–steam oven (OV) in a steam environment at 80 °C and 90 °C (to obtain the final temperature of 65 °C in the geometric centre of meat pieces). Extending the heating time using the SV method and increasing the temperature in OV resulted in increased hardness, cohesiveness and chewiness. The use of heat treatment resulted in a significant reduction in the initial anserine content. A greater anserine reduction was found in SV samples compared to OV. The SV processing time did not significantly differentiate the dipeptide content, nor did the temperature used in OV processing. Pectoral muscles heated using the sous vide method were characterised by higher values of the parameters L* and b* and the hue angle (h) compared to OV processing, in which the value of the a* parameter was higher. The low-temperature processing methods (SV 65 °C/4 h and OV 80 °C) of goose breast meat allowed for obtaining products with similar textural characteristics: hardness, adhesiveness, elasticity and chewiness.