Physical meat quality measurements were conducted on the longissimus thoracis et lumborum, biceps femoris, semimembranosus, semitendinosus, infraspinatus and supraspinatus muscles from male (n = 6) and female (n = 6) fallow deer (Dama dama) harvested in South Africa. Ultimate pH (pH_u), drip loss, cooking loss and shear force values were influenced (p ≤ 0.05) by muscle, but not gender. Mean pHu readings were 5.4–5.6 in the muscles with the two forequarter muscles having the highest readings, while drip loss, cooking loss and shear force values ranged from 1.3–1.6%, 29.4–36.1% and 31.3–61.9 N, respectively. Muscle, however, had an effect (p ≤ 0.05) on all the measured colour parameters (L*, a*, b*, chroma, hue angle), whereas gender only influenced (p ≤ 0.05) the a* and chroma values in certain muscles. It can be concluded that the physical meat quality attributes of the fallow deer muscles compare favourably with that from other game species commonly consumed in South Africa.

物理肉质测定对进行最长胸外科等lumborum，股二头肌，半膜肌，半腱肌，冈和冈上肌与男性（N = 6）和女性（N = 6），小鹿（黄鹿鹿在南非收获）。极限pH（pH _u），滴水损失，蒸煮损失和剪切力值受肌肉影响（p≤0.05），但不受性别影响。肌肉的平均pHu读数为5.4–5.6，其中前四只肌肉的读数最高，而滴水损失，蒸煮损失和剪切力值分别为1.3–1.6％，29.4–36.1％和31.3–61.9N。但是，肌肉对所有测得的颜色参数（L *，a *，b *，色度，色相角）都有影响（p≤0.05），而性别仅影响（p≤0.05）某些肌肉。可以得出结论，小鹿肌肉的物理肉品质属性与南非通常食用的其他野味物种的肉品质属性相比具有优势。