Microstructure and physical changes in the Mexican cooked lamb meat barbacoa made with chilled and frozen meat

Longissimus dorci (LD) samples of different origin (imported and domestic) with pre-treatments (imported meat stored at − 18 °C for 6 months, domestic meat stored at − 18 °C for 10 days, and domestic meat stored at 4 °C for 24 h) were cooked as barbacoa and frozen using two treatments (air blast and liquid immersion) and then evaluated after 30 days of storage. The results showed that the origin and pre-treatment of meat affected L*, a*, instrumental texture and microstructure; that the storage time affected pH, aw, b* and microstructure; and that the freezing treatments did not affect the meat. Overall, the frozen cooked lamb dish barbacoa could present some problems at the conservation stage due to an increase in pH, aw and changes in microstructure; however, the physical traits (color and texture) remained mostly unchanged and depended more on the quality of the raw meat.