Table 6.

Coefficients of correlation (Spearmann's rank correlation, r_s) between various indicators of meat quality assessed 48 h after slaughter.

		Parameter
Parameter	Age, d	pH	L*1	a*2	b*3	Fillet weigh, g	WLC4, %	WLT5, %	MDA6, mg/kg	Sensory index	White striping
L*	33	−0.245*
a*		−0.071	−0.217*
b*		0.061	0.268*	0.328**
Fillet weight, g		0.356**	0.256*	0.166	0.323**
WLC, %		−0.001	0.156	0.155	0.081	0.096
WLT, %		−0.157	0.406***	0.060	0.297**	0.124	0.295**
MDA, mg/kg		−0.375***	0.209	0.066	−0.021	0.057	0.091	0.180
Sensory index		0.301**	−0.308**	-0.115	−0.178	-0.018	0.015	−0.144	−0.232*
White striping		0.302**	0.239*	0.209	0.308**	0.539**	-0.003	0.058	−0.196	−0.107
Purchase decision		0.067	−0.198	−0.455***	−0.228*	−0.363***	-0.206	0.037	−0.298**	0.318**	−0.231*
L*	53	0.104
a*		0.078	-0.365***
b*		0.222*	0.433***	0.243*
Fillet weight, g		0.273**	0.142	0.219*	0.251*
WLC, %		−0.145	0.265*	0.037	0.164	0.044
WLT, %		−0.087	0.188	0.118	0.034	−0.158	0.129
MDA, mg/kg		−0.131	0.230*	−0.001	−0.046	0.001	0.189	0.271**
Sensory index		−0.143	−0.415***	0.054	-0.308**	−0.176	−0.169	−0.276**	0.092
White striping		0.217*	0.234*	0.272**	0.325**	0.352**	0.029	0.091	−0.037	−0.303**
Purchase decision		−0.267*	−0.164	−0.367***	−0.210*	−0.321**	−0.047	−0.166	0.080	0.396***	−0.563***

The strength of correlation is given as low when r_s ≤0.1, medium when r_s ≤0.3 and high when r_s ≤0.5. P-values are ranked by using: *for P ≤ 0.5, **for P ≤ 0.01 and ***for P ≤ 0.001.

¹L*, Lightness.

²a*, Redness.

³b*, Yellowness.

⁴WLC, water loss during cooking.

⁵WLT, water loss during thawing.

⁶MDA, malondialdehyde equivalents.