Table 1.

Comparison of early postmortem (1 d) ventral loin quality traits with aged (12 to 28 d) postmortem ventral loin quality traits of whole boneless pork loins¹

Item	Loins, n	Days postmortem		Difference	SED2	P-value
		Early	Aged
Lightness3, L*	3956	47.55	51.53	−3.99	0.05	<0.0001
Redness4, a*	3957	6.51	10.24	−3.72	0.05	<0.0001
Yellowness5, b*	3957	4.78	7.64	−2.86	2.41	<0.0001
Visual color6	4259	2.9	3.1	−0.2	0.01	<0.0001
Visual marbling7	4253	2.4	2.0	0.4	0.01	<0.0001
Subjective firmness8	4257	2.9	2.6	0.3	0.01	<0.0001

¹Early and aged postmortem quality data are compared using a paired-T test on the same loin.

²Standard error of the difference of the mean.

³L* measures darkness to lightness (greater L* indicates a lighter color).

⁴a* measures redness (greater a* indicates a redder color).

⁵b* measures yellowness (greater b* indicates a more yellow color).

⁶NPPC color based on the 1999 standards measured in half point increments where 1 = palest, 6 = darkest.

⁷NPPC marbling based on the 1999 standards measured in half point increments where 1 = least amount of marbling, 6 = greatest amount of marbling.

⁸NPPC firmness based on the 1991 scale measured in half point increments where 1 = softest, 5 = firmest.