2.9. Color Measurement

At each storage time, meat surface color measurements were performed with a Minolta CR-300 colorimeter (Minolta CR-300, Chromometer, Osaka, Japan) using the coordinates L*, a*, and b* of the CIELAB color system (CIE,1976). The chroma (C*) was obtained by (a*² + b*²)^1/2 and Hue angle by h° = arctan (b*/a*) × 180/π. The instrument was calibrated against a white tile ceramic reference according to manufacturer instructions. For each sample, two different analyzes were carried out. First, the color was measured before opening the Petri dishes, simulating the use of transparent food packaging. The second analysis was done directly on the meat surface 10 min after opening the dishes and films removal. Three random readings at different locations per sample were taken and averaged.