Comparison of meat quality characteristics between young and old ostriches

Comparison of CIELAB colour values of the in. iliofibularis derived from 14 month old and 8 year old ostriches have indicated that an increase in age is accompanied with a significant (P<0.001) reduction in reflectance (L*) a nd a significant increase in both a* (P<0.001) and b* (P<0.05) values, the meat thus becoming darker and redder with increased age. Comparison with re sults found in scientific literature suggest that, similar to other species , toughness also increases with age. Warner Bratzler values of the older os triches were also higher than published results of 14 month old birds (4.44 kg/1.27 cm. dia vs. 5.26 kg/1.27 cm. dia). Intramuscular fatty acid compos ition and content of the older ostriches did not suggest any large variatio ns compared with published results for younger (14 month old) ostriches. (C ) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.