The physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of pork jerky in comparison to beef jerky

This study was carried out to compare the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of beef and pork jerky, prepared from whole muscle of beef semimembranosus (BSM), pork semimembranosus (PSM), pork longissimus dorsi (PLD), and pork psoas major (PPM). The BSM and PSM jerky had higher moisture content, and PPM jerky had lower water activity than other jerky samples during 30 days of storage at 25 °C (P < 0.05). Pork jerky samples had higher lightness value than beef jerky, while PSM jerky had higher pH value than other jerky samples (P < 0.05). The shear force and TBARS values of PPM jerky were higher than those of other jerky samples (P < 0.05). Saturated fatty acid (SFA, %) was significantly higher in the BSM jerky than others, while unsaturated fatty acid (UFA, %) was significantly higher in the PSM and PLD than BSM and PPM jerky samples (P < 0.05). The PPM jerky showed a significant increase in UFA (%) during storage, and a significantly decrease in microbial count after storage of 30 days (P < 0.05).