Drip Loss Assessment by Different Analytical Methods and Their Relationships with Pork Quality Classification

Table 3

Meat quality characteristics (mean ± standard error) of four quality groups by Warner et al. [12] criteria of pork loin (Longissimus thoracis muscle; n = 52)¹ samples.

Characteristic	Quality class
	PSE	RSE	RFN	DFD
	36	8	7	1
	6.04 ± 0.05	5.99 ± 0.13	6.26 ± 0.04	6.44
	5.60 ± 0.02	5.65 ± 0.05	5.67 ± 0.04	6.04
Lightness ()	53.52 ± 0.42	48.24 ± 0.61	47.85 ± 0.47	41.63
WHC method
DL (%)	7.81 ± 0.27	6.54 ± 0.32	3.68 ± 0.51	1.06
(%)	3.86 ± 0.29	3.22 ± 0.50	1.27 ± 0.26	0.51
(%)	4.00 ± 0.30	3.21 ± 0.65	1.09 ± 0.22	0.36
(%)	5.38 ± 0.29	4.54 ± 0.52	1.82 ± 0.36	0.75
(%)	6.40 ± 0.35	5.39 ± 0.73	2.17 ± 0.51	0.42
FPW (mg)	211.6 ± 11.5	139.3 ± 17.4	100.6 ± 17.9	33.9

PSE = pale, soft, and exudative; RSE = reddish-pink, soft, and exudative; RFN = reddish-pink, firm, and nonexudative; DFD = dark, firm, and dry; N = number of samples assigned to each pork quality class; WHC = water-holding capacity; DL = drip loss by the bag method after 48 h storage; = EZ-DripLoss by weighing containers after 24 h storage; = EZ-DripLoss by weighing dabbed samples after 24 h storage; = EZ-DripLoss by weighing containers after 48 h storage; = EZ-DripLoss by weighing dabbed samples after 48 h storage; and FPW = filter-paper wetness (mg).
¹Eight samples (from 60) could not be classified into any pork quality category, and so they were excluded from the analysis.
Means followed by different letters in the row differ (P < 0.05) by Tukey’s test.