Effect of PEF treatment on meat quality attributes, ultrastructure and metabolite profiles of wet and dry aged venison Longissimus dorsi muscle

This study determined the effects of low-pulsed electric field (LPEF-2.5 kV, 50 Hz, 20 mu s) and high-PEF (HPEF-10 kV, 50 Hz, 20 mu s) on the quality attributes and metabolite profiles of wet and dry aged venison M Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscles. Twelve loins from six red deer at 24 h postmortem were randomly assigned to seven treatments: No-PEF control (WAC), heated control (HC), dry aged No-PEF control (DAC), wet aged LPEF (WALPEF), dry aged LPEF (DALPEF), wet aged HPEF (WAHPEF), and dry aged HPEF (DAHPEF). Samples were aged 21d at 4 degrees C at 80% relative humidity. HPEF treatment improved meat tenderness by 9%. Metabolite profiles were unaffected by all PEF treatment groups with key differences found due to ageing method. These observations demonstrate the viability of HPEF in improving drying rate (by 6%) and tenderisation of venison LD muscle during the dry ageing process, which will improve product quality and production efficiency. Industrial relevance: The study shows that the use of PEF can improve mass transfer and enhance drying kinetics leading to reduced processing time and improved control over weight loss in the dry ageing of venison. Application of high PEF treatment (HPEF 10 kV, 50 Hz, 20 mu s) offers improved meat tenderness and no detrimental effect to product metabolomics, thereby increasing the product quality and value of the aged venison.