# Influence of LAB Fermentation on the Color Stability and Oxidative Changes in Dry-Cured Meat
## 3 Results
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Color Parameter**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Time [Month]**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Variants**} \\ \cline{3-6}  & & **C** & **LOCK** & **BB** & **BAUER** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{\(L^{*}\)} & 6 & 43.15 \(\pm\) 1.19 \({}^{\rm{Ba}}\) & 46.92 \(\pm\) 1.16 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 45.62 \(\pm\) 1.81 \({}^{\rm{ABa}}\) & 47.71 \(\pm\) 3.40 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) \\  & 9 & 38.75 \(\pm\) 3.59 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) & 45.35 \(\pm\) 4.21 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 44.56 \(\pm\) 3.40 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 48.19 \(\pm\) 2.73 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) \\  & 12 & 43.82 \(\pm\) 2.47 \({}^{\rm{ABa}}\) & 46.10 \(\pm\) 1.94 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 46.32 \(\pm\) 1.57 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 42.45 \(\pm\) 1.06 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) \\  & 6 & 7.29 \(\pm\) 0.27 \({}^{\rm{Cb}}\) & 6.60 \(\pm\) 0.76 \({}^{\rm{Ca}}\) & 10.17 \(\pm\) 0.92 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 8.73 \(\pm\) 0.98 \({}^{\rm{Ba}}\) \\ \multirow{4}{*}{\(a^{*}\)} & 9 & 9.27 \(\pm\) 1.36 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 8.26 \(\pm\) 1.60 \({}^{\rm{Ba}}\) & 10.70 \(\pm\) 1.07 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 8.68 \(\pm\) 0.48 \({}^{\rm{Ba}}\) \\  & 12 & 8.07 \(\pm\) 1.02 \({}^{\rm{Aab}}\) & 7.09 \(\pm\) 0.81 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 4.68 \(\pm\) 0.69 \({}^{\rm{Cb}}\) & 6.76 \(\pm\) 0.37 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) \\ \multirow{4}{*}{\(b^{*}\)} & 6 & 6.96 \(\pm\) 0.45 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) & 5.28 \(\pm\) 0.68 \({}^{\rm{Cb}}\) & 8.95 \(\pm\) 1.32 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 9.43 \(\pm\) 1.10 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) \\  & 9 & 9.10 \(\pm\) 1.46 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 8.77 \(\pm\) 1.68 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 9.45 \(\pm\) 1.31 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 9.68 \(\pm\) 0.81 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) \\ \multirow{4}{*}{\(\rm{O_{Ni}}\)} & 12 & 8.43 \(\pm\) 1.94 \({}^{\rm{Aab}}\) & 9.17 \(\pm\) 1.11 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 10.69 \(\pm\) 1.63 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 10.16 \(\pm\) 0.99 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) \\  & 6 & 1.635 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) & 1.743 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) & 2.059 \(\pm\) 0.13 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 1.253 \(\pm\) 0.043 \({}^{\rm{Cb}}\) \\ \multirow{4}{*}{\(\rm{O_{Ni}}\)} & 9 & 1.919 \(\pm\) 0.20 \({}^{\rm{Bc}}\) & 1.943 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\rm{Bb}}\) & 2.141 \(\pm\) 0.20 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 1.608 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\rm{Ca}}\) \\  & 12 & 1.724 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\rm{Aa}}\) & 1.611 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\rm{Ba}}\) & 1.253 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm{Cb}}\) &The \(a^{*}\) parameter determines the chromaticity ranging from red to green, with a higher \(a^{*}\) value representing the higher redness of the meat. As presented in Table 2, a significant effect of using BB and BAUER strains on \(a^{*}\) values was observed during the entire study period, whereas the LOCK test did not differ significantly from the control (C; \(p>0.05\)). In C and LOCK samples, an increase in the redness (\(a^{*}\)) was observed in the 9 th month of ripening, followed by a decrease in \(a^{*}\) in the 12 th month. At the same time, in BB and BAUER tests, the value of \(a^{*}\) decreased only in the 12 th month, showing the higher stability of redness during production. It is also worth noting that in the 12 th month, the highest loss of redness (decrease in \(a^{*}\) by 5.49 units) in the general tone of color was observed in BB samples. Taking into account the distribution of values characterizing the \(b^{*}\) parameter, a significantly higher \(b^{*}\) value was observed in BB and BAUER tests compared with the control sample in the 6 th month of aging (\(p<0.05\)). These samples were found to be more yellow in the overall color tone. In addition, in these test variants, the \(b^{*}\) parameter remained stable throughout the entire study period, whereas an increase in \(b^{*}\) values was observed in C and LOCK samples in the 9 th month (by 2.14 units and 3.49 units, respectively), and this trend was maintained until the 12 th month of aging. The \(b^{*}\) values after 9 and 12 months did not differ significantly (\(p>0.05\)) between all variants. Color stability can also be determined using the Ox\({}_{\rm i}\) calculated by the ratio 630/580 nm, which is correlated with the formation of metmyoglobin. The lower the value of Ox\({}_{\rm i}\), the more oxidized the myoglobin is in the sample.