| Meat color is the most important aspect of meat quality. Consumers will use color as an indicator of freshness of a meat cut. Bloom time is the term used to describe the amount of time for oxygen to bind to myoglobin the main protein responsible for meat color, to produce the desirable color of meat. Lipoic acid (LA) has been touted as a powerful, universal antioxidant as it is both fat and water soluble. Semintal steers (n = 48) were fed a common finishing diet (200 d) supplemented with either 8 mg/kg BW, 16 mg/kg BW, or 24 mg/kg BW (n = 8 steers/treatment) for the last 21 d prior to slaughter. Color measurements (CIE L*, a*, and b*) were taken on a 2.54 cm steak immediately after for 93 min to determine LA's affect on beef Longissimus bloom time. There was not a treatment x bloom time interaction; however, data was pooled to evaluate bloom time. Bloom time had no affect on L* values but a* values leveled after 9 min and b* values, hue angle, and chroma calculations leveled after 12 min. Paylean is an orally active growth promotant fed to pigs and has limited impact on pork quality. Paylean (PAY; 32 mg), LA (600 mg), and the combination (PAY + LA) was fed to 24 crossbred barrows (Hampshire x Yorkshire) for the last 31 d of production. Bloom time was determined every 6 min over a 60 min period using the same procedures previously described. Bloom time nor treatment had any affect on L* values during the 60 min bloom time period. The a* and b* values, and the hue angle and chroma calculations plateaued after 6 min of bloom time. |
