Impedance measurement for nondestructive venison pH estimation using touch-type electrodes

Abstract

The pH of venison is affected by deer capture methods, which affects its water-holding capacity (WHC) during heating. Therefore, cooking or processing venison requires careful consideration of WHC at different pH levels. While this requires nondestructively measuring the pH of venison during distribution, there are no established methods to nondestructively distinguish between normal- and high-pH meats. We investigated the relationship between the pH of venison and impedance measured with touch-type electrodes. Significant negative correlations were found between pH before and after storage and drip loss (p < 0.05) and between impedance before storage using touch-type electrodes measured at 10 kHz and pH after 24 h of storage (p < 0.01). These results provided an estimating equation (y = −0.10x + 10.84) that can be used to nondestructively determine the pH of venison (y) after 24 h of storage by measuring its impedance (x) before storage using touch-type electrodes measured at 10 kHz (p < 0.01). Therefore, this study suggests the possibility of nondestructively estimating venison pH by measuring impedance using touch-type electrodes.