Abstract
The experiment was conducted to investigate the physico-chemical characteristics of vacuum and aerobically packed meat from Elk deer weighing 170 $\pm$ 10kg of 28 to 30 months old, chilled at 4$^{\circ}C$for 10days. The moisture content, crude protein, crude fat and crude ash in deer loin were 74.46%, 22.11%, 1.27% and 1.13%: the leg parts had 75.47%, 22.68%, 1.58% and 1.27%, respectively. The decrease in moisture content was greater in aerobic packaging than in vacuum packaging. The lysine content of loin and leg parts were 2,380mg% and 2,270mg% and the glutamate content of loin and leg parts were 4,145mg% and 3,987.5mg% respectively. On the whole, the loin contained more amino acids than leg part. Of the mineral contents, phosphorus, potassium and sodium were present in large amounts and mineral content was decreased with longer chilling period. The leg parts contained more potassium, sodium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium and calcium than loin parts. In conclusion, vacuum packaging is considered more advantageous in preventing meat color change and microbial deterioration for consumers interest.
