RESUMEN
As consumers are chiefly concerned with odor and appearance, refrigerated meats have a greater possibility of rejection due to their perishability. A treatment was designed to preserve the quality parameters such as color and oxidation rate. The treatment encompassed coating pork loin samples with aqueous porcine gelatin solutions (175 bloom) at three concentrations (0%, 10% and 20%) and studying its effect on lipid oxidation, protein oxidation, oxidation pre-cursors, color and purge of meat. Vacuum packed Longissimus dorsi muscle was cut into 10 x 5 x 1 cm samples and randomly dipped in one of three solutions. Samples were stored at 4 degrees C and analyzed for thio-barbituric acid reactive substances, metmyoglobin content, protein carbonyls, heme iron content and color change. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) for TBARS values, protein carbonyls, heme iron content, total color change, metmyoglobin content with treatments maintaining values more similar to a fresher product when compared to control on days 3, 5 and 7. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between 10% and 20% gelatin coating on any of the parameters between storage days.