# Physicochemical Properties and Volatile Profile of Chito: A Traditional Dry-Cured Goat Meat Product
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Texture Evaluation  
Table 3 shows the results on the instrumental texture of chito. For each year, no significant differences (\(P>0.05\)) were observed in springiness, cohesiveness, and resilience \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Processing Year** & **Treatments** & **SEM** & \(P\)**-Level** \\ \hline  & & **NP** & **P** & \\ \hline Color & & & & \\ \(L^{\star}\) & 2021 & 25.15 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 26.79 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 1.70 & NS \\  & 2022 & 25.92 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 20.11 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 0.73 & NS \\  & 2023 & 20.31 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 20.56 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 0.83 & NS \\ SEM & & 0.99 & 1.10 & & \\ \(P\)-level & & ** & * & & \\ \(a^{\star}\) & 2021 & 7.48 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 6.16 \({}^{\rm bA}\) & 0.75 & * \\  & 2022 & 5.92 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 5.76 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 0.73 & NS \\  & 2023 & 7.86 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 6.18 \({}^{\rm bA}\) & 0.74 & * \\ SEM & & 0.56 & 0.54 & & \\ \(P\)-level & & ** & * & & \\ \(b^{\star}\) & 2021 & 24.74 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 29.97 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 1.64 & NS \\  & 2022 & 29.41 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 30.09 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 0.49 & NS \\  & 2023 & 28.96 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 28.52 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 0.82 & NS \\ SEM & & 0.78 & 0.98 & & \\ \(P\)-level & & NS & NS & & \\ Chroma & 2021 & 30.91 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 26.23 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 1.71 & NS \\  & 2022 & 30.69 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 30.01 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 0.54 & NS \\  & 2023 & 30.81 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 29.26 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 0.76 & NS \\ SEM & & 0.77 & 1.10 & & \\ \(P\)-level & & NS & NS & & \\ Hue & 2021 & 72.00 \({}^{\rm bB}\) & 77.04 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 1.28 & * \\  & 2022 & 78.90 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 79.14 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 0.56 & NS \\  & 2023 & 70.68 \({}^{\rm bB}\) & 78.01 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 1.57 & * \\ SEM & & 1.12 & 0.99 & & \\ \(P\)-level & & ** & NS & & \\ Metmyoglobin (\%) & 2021 & 33.61 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 36.45 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 1.33 & NS \\  & 2022 & 36.32 \({}^{\rm bA}\) & 53.21 \({}^{\rm aA}\) & 1.24 & *** \\  & 2023 & 30.66 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 32.02 \({}^{\rm aB}\) & 0.80 & NS \\ SEM & & 0.67 & 1.04 & & \\ \(P\)-level & *** & *** & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* NP: non-pressed (immediate consumption); P: pressed (for sale). SEM: standard error of means. \({}^{\rm aB}\): Means values within the same row with different letters are significantly different (\(P<0.05\)). \({}^{\rm A,B}\): Means values in the same column with different letters are significantly different (\(P<0.05\)). \(P\)-level, Significance: NS: not significant; \({}^{\star}\) (\(P\leq 0.05\)); \({}^{\star}\) (\(P\leq 0.01\)); \({}^{\star}\) (\(P\leq 0.001\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Mean values of instrumental color and metmyoglobin content of chito. between the treatments. On the other hand, mean hardness was higher in the P treatment than in NP for each year. Moisture loss, protein denaturation, and the shortening of fibres during meat drying, as well as collagen and fat content, result in the formation of an intense and hard structure [2; 4; 25]. In this regard, the results of this study could be attributed to various factors. Firstly, some of the meat samples were extremely non-homogeneous regarding shape and localization of fat. However, the main factor could be attributed to the effect of pressing with mallets (high force) on dried meat (before packing), which compacted and hardened the meat even more, thereby changing the consistency from firm to hard. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that this may also be related to muscle types, anatomical location, and the age of the animal. In addition, the drying process can reduce the size of the meat pieces and, to some degree, wrinkle them. Thus, dried meat products develop a hardened texture and wrinkled appearance due to volume reduction, while the meat sometimes acquires a hard crust on the surface [26]. [PERSON] et al. [27] argued that higher salt concentrations in the muscle may denature proteins, leading to stronger protein-protein bonds, muscle shrinkage, and dehydration. Conversely, [PERSON] et al.