HEMOGLOBIN, MYOGLOBIN, AND TOTAL PIGMENTS IN BEEF AND CHICKEN MUSCLES- CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION

Spectrophotometric determinations of myoglobin (Mb) and hemoglobin (Hb ) in bovine longissimus and psoas and chicken thigh and drumstick musc les were compared using size exclusion (SE) and hydrophobic interactio n (HI) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Detection limit (61 ng) and standard deviation for total pigments were lower with SE t han with HI. Bovine and chicken Mb and Hb coeluted with SE-HPLC. Mb an d Hb from bovine muscles were separated using HI-HPLC, but pigment con centrations in chicken muscles were below detection limits of the HI-H PLC method. The amounts of Mb and Hb in longissimus and psoas muscles differed with individual cattle.