Table 3.

Effects of pre-slaughter heat stress temperature and exposure time on the meat color and water holding capacity of pectoralis major muscles (n = 12)

Item	Heat stress temperature (°C)					Heat stress time (h)			Significance
	Control	36	38	40	SE	1	2	SE	Temp	Time	Temp×time
L*5 min	49.01	48.86	48.67	48.15	0.43–0.45	48.48	48.86	0.30–0.32	NS	NS	NS
a*5 min	8.16a	7.05b	6.57b	7.06b	0.26–0.30	7.14	7.28	0.18–0.20	**	NS	NS
b*5 min	14.92	13.61	13.61	13.88	0.37–0.43	13.95	14.01	0.27–0.28	NS	NS	NS
L*24 h	50.56b	53.15a	52.02ab	50.89ab	0.35	52.26	51.77	0.25	**	NS	NS
a*24 h	9.85a	8.48ab	8.14b	9.38ab	0.40	8.88	9.04	0.28	*	NS	NS
b*24 h	16.39	15.82	15.45	15.75	0.39	15.90	15.81	0.28	NS	NS	NS
Drip loss (%)	1.10	1.40	1.20	1.17	0.12	1.22	1.21	0.08	NS	NS	NS
Cook loss (%)	13.33b	16.08a	14.15ab	13.79ab	0.61–0.66	13.94	14.72	0.44	*	NS	NS

SE, standard error; Temp, temperature; NS, no significance.

^*p<0.05;

^**p<0.01.

^a–bMeans in a row within different treatments with a different letter differ significantly.