Pale soft exudative (PSE) and dark firm dry (DFD) meats: causes and measures to reduce these incidences - a mini review

Pale Soft Exudative (PSE) and Dark Firm Dry (DFD) meats are two of the major quality defects facing the meat industry. These defects reduce consumer acceptability, shelf life and yield of meat thus affecting profits tremendously. Breed, sex, species, pre-slaughter and post-slaughter handling of animals are among the main predisposing factors contributing to PSE and DFD in meats. Nowadays, strenuous efforts are being made by farmers, researchers and all stakeholders in the meat industry to reduce the incidence of PSE and DFD meats. Modern technologies to reduce these incidences in meats have included careful design of vehicles for transporting live animals to the abattoir, the design of abattoirs, stunning methods, and chilling processes. Various additives and/or ingredients have also been introduced to improve upon the processing qualities of PSE and DFD in processed meat products. In this review, PSE and DFD meats, the causes and measures to reduce these incidences are described.