Color stability of dried pork meat slices containing bamboo leaf extract and L-cysteine under drying temperature variation

In this research, the color stability of dried pork meat slices (DPMS) containing 0.2% (m/m) bamboo leaf extract (BLE) and 0.5% (m/m) L-cysteine (Cys) was evaluated in the scope of air-drying temperature variation 55–75 °C. The results showed that the combined addition of BLE and Cys could reduce the range values of each color parameter of DPMS in the scopes (± 5 and ± 10 °C) of drying temperature variation 55–75 °C, such as the range value of lightness (L*) from 2.81 to 1.10, redness (a*) from 2.45 to 1.62, and yellowness (b*) from 5.80 to 1.11 in the scope (65 ± 5) °C, especially the total color difference (ΔE) of less than 2 in 60–70 °C was below the limits discernible to the human eye. The two combined additives could significantly reduce the loss of monascus red pigment, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs), carbonyl contents and the loss of sulfhydryl group in DPMS system during drying process (P < 0.05), inhibited the production of Maillard coloring substances (P < 0.05), and stabilized the relative content of myoglobin (deoxymyoglobin (DeoMb), oxymyoglobin (OMb) and methemoglobin (MetMb)) (P < 0.05). These results indicated that the combination of BLE and Cys could effectively improve the color stability of DPMS in the scope of drying temperature 60–70 °C, which displayed a great potential to enhance the color stability of the Chinese traditional meat products in large-scale production.