Comparison of different pH measurement methods in meat

The accuracy of portable pH meters and the nitrazine yellow method was compared with the reference method by determining the pH of 74 beef and 96 pork muscles. The pH was measured directly from the muscle. The results showed statistically significant differences (p less than 0.001) between the different electrometric combinations. Combinations of portable pH meters with puncture electrodes gave systematically higher pH values than the reference method. These differences were not very large but they may be of practical significance. The use of a piercing cover on the electrode to help the insertion of the electrode into the meat is not recommended, since it may cause a rise in pH values. Electrometric methods were found to be more precise than the nitrazine yellow method. On the basis of these findings there still is a need of further harmonization of the methods used for pH measurement of meat.