## 3 Results and Discussion
### Color  
All analyzed samples had similar levels of marbling. It is particularly important as the level of marbling has a direct effect on color, texture, and consumer acceptability [25]. Summarizing the results of the color measurements, the \(\Delta\)E\({}^{*}\) values were calculated to determine the color difference in the sample groups compared to SAMPLE GROUP I. The results are shown in Table 2. The textual descriptions corresponding to \(\Delta\)E\({}^{*}\) values were determined based on the threshold table provided in the Materials and Methods section (Table 1). The results indicated that compared to SAMPLE GROUP I, the color changes in SAMPLE GROUP II were noticeable every week after separation, while those of SAMPLE GROUP III were noticeable immediately after separation, becoming barely noticeable in the last two weeks. In contrast, the color changes in SAMPLE GROUP IV were less noticeable after transfer but showed a more pronounced change in the last week. Figure 2: Drip loss results [%] of sample groups (I., II., III., IV.) at each measurement day (0, 7, 14, 21, 28). In case of lightness factor, the notable spike in results at the end of the first aging week is evident here. Reflecting on the exudation, a significant negative deviation was observed in our measurements. This can be explained by the fact that since there was a decrease in exudation at the end of the first week; the meat containing higher levels of exudate reflected more incident light. As a result, the L* lightness factor yielded a higher value in the measurements, illustrated by the image of SAMPLE GROUP I in Figure 3. The results of the measurements conducted on fresh meat (week 0) and after one week of aging (1 st week) fall within a noticeable range both numerically (\(\Delta\)E* = 4.92) and visually. This trend is observed in almost every comparison of values, indicating an inverse proportionality between the percentage of drip loss and the L* values obtained from color measurements. Similar findings were reported by [PERSON] et al. (1995), suggesting a correlation between the L* values and the muscle water-holding capacity ([PERSON] et al., 1995). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Numeric Values of \(\Delta\)E* Between the Color of SAMPLE GROUP I and Other Sample Groups**} \\ \hline Sample groups/Week number & Week 0. & Week 1. & Week 2. & Week 3. & Week 4. \\ \hline SAMPLE GROUP I. & & & & \\ SAMPLE GROUP II. & & 1.63 & 2.22 & 1.54 & 1.58 \\ SAMPLE GROUP III. & & 1.67 & 1.16 & 1.13 \\ SAMPLE GROUP IV. & & & 1.32 & 1.60 \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Perceptibility \(\Delta\)E* Between the Color of SAMPLE GROUP I and Other Sample Groups**} \\ \hline Sample groups/Week number & Week 0. & Week 1. & Week 2. & Week 3. & Week 4. \\ SAMPLE GROUP I. & & & & \\ SAMPLE GROUP II. & & & & \\ SAMPLE GROUP III. & & & & \\ SAMPLE GROUP IV. & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: \(\Delta\)E* [-] values between SAMPLE GROUP I (control) and the different sample groups (I., II., III., IV.) at the different aging weeks (1., 2., 3., 4.). Figure 3: Lightness (L*) [-] results of different sample groups (I., II., III., IV.) at each measurement day (0, 7, 14, 21, 28) (lowercase Latin letters indicate significant differences according to sample groups and uppercase Latin letters indicate significant differences according to storage time). Figure 3 reveals that after an initial increase, the L* values started to decrease, followed by a subsequent rise. In the research conducted by [PERSON] and [PERSON] (1996), L* values showed a continuous increase during the 16-day aging period of vacuum-packaged meats ([PERSON] and [PERSON], 1996). The a* values obtained during the examination are depicted in Figure 4. There is a trend noticeable among the sample groups, where the red hue seemed to initially increase, then started to decrease. This decline reversed except for SAMPLE GROUP II, and once again, the sample exhibited increasing amounts of red hue over time.