2.3. Physicochemical analysis

Meat pH was measured with a puncture electrode (HI 99163, Hanna Instruments WoonSocket, RI, USA) at 4°C. Meat color values for variables of lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), Chroma (saturation index), and Hue angle were measured on the surfaces of the lean meat samples in areas without fat and connective tissue using a colorimeter (CR‐400 Konica Minolta®, Tokyo, Japan; Illuminant/Observer: D65/10) calibrated with a standard white plate and specified by CIE Lab System (CIE, ¹⁹⁷⁶). Total color change (ΔE) and browning index (BI) were calculated according to equations used by Bozkurt and Bayram (²⁰⁰⁶), and the colorimeter calibration values L0∗ = 94.18, a0∗ = −0.43, and b0∗ = 3.98 to estimate ΔE and BI. Water‐holding capacity (WHC) was determined using the compression method according to Tsai and Ockerman (¹⁹⁸¹) and Méndez‐Zamora et al. (²⁰¹⁵) with slight modifications. A total of 0.3 g of meat was placed between two filter papers and placed between two 12 × 12 cm plexiglass plates, and a force of 4.0 kg was applied for 20 min; the initial (IW) and final weights (FW) were recorded, and WHC was estimated as WHC = 100‐[((IW‐FW)/IW × 100]. The physicochemical variables were determinate in six different subgroups per treatment/replicate (n = 12).