[HN Gopher] Iridescence in Meat Caused by Surface Gratings (2013)
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       Iridescence in Meat Caused by Surface Gratings (2013)
        
       Author : mhb
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2024-06-13 14:37 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.mdpi.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.mdpi.com)
        
       | bluenose69 wrote:
       | MDPI journals are considered predatory by some academics.
        
         | TheBlight wrote:
         | Predatory in what sense?
        
           | wizzwizz4 wrote:
           | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5466/is-
           | mdpi-a-...
        
       | WesolyKubeczek wrote:
       | I knew some meat cuts were iridescent, never knew why.
       | 
       | I only have one question:
       | 
       | "A commercial pork (Sus scrofa domesticus) loin sample was
       | supplied by the commercial processing facility (Morliny Sopocka,
       | Animex, Warsaw, Poland)."
       | 
       | Does this mean they asked the facility for a meat sample
       | directly, or is it the science-speak for "we bought the meat at
       | the nearest grocery store"? The photos suggest the latter, but if
       | so, why not just write it so?
        
         | SamBam wrote:
         | I'm unsure how a photo of a loin chop suggests it was bought at
         | the nearest grocery store. It didn't have a package with a
         | grocery store name.
         | 
         | It says it came from a commercial meat processing facility, and
         | I don't see any reason to doubt it. These facilities pre-
         | butcher and package the meat, and are then sent out to grocery
         | stores or wherever. I assume they got it straight from the
         | source to avoid any potential confounding effects of a grocery
         | store keeping the meat out of refrigeration, or mislabeling the
         | dates, or whatever.
        
           | ansgri wrote:
           | Based on my experience in academia in my country, and from
           | what I read about academia worldwide, I'd say it was indeed
           | very likely bought from ordinary store, since it's not a
           | department dealing specifically with food (thus having
           | convenient access to samples). Often a group of researchers
           | just looks for a random important-sounding subject to apply
           | whatever methods they are familiar with and don't think much
           | about the domain they're getting into. Sometimes the result
           | turns out interesting, more often they publish it wherever
           | they can and move on.
        
         | pvaldes wrote:
         | To assure that the meat was never wrapped in plastic probably.
         | A fact important to avoid artifacts on the methodology.
        
       | TheBlight wrote:
       | I've definitely been turned off of ham on occasion due to this
       | property. I had no real conscious reason since I generally enjoy
       | ham but the effect has made it less appetizing to me. I wonder
       | how much of that was due to primarily associating the visual
       | effect with gasoline.
        
         | Footkerchief wrote:
         | I always assumed it was some kind of bacterial product from
         | early spoilage. Nice to learn!
        
           | anvil-on-my-toe wrote:
           | I've definitely noticed it on meat that has gone off, and
           | previously was not iridescent. I wonder if bacteria create
           | surface gratings.
        
             | TheBlight wrote:
             | Maybe the effect can manifest when oils from the meat/fat
             | and water separate similar to the effect with gas/oil? With
             | this hypothesis the iridescence would be incidental to the
             | meat having gone bad but more to do with age and not
             | maintaining structural integrity/consistency.
        
         | dfxm12 wrote:
         | "You eat with your eyes first" isn't just an expression.
         | Glowing foods tend to be not good for us, like a bad lobster in
         | a dark cellar.
        
       | dekhn wrote:
       | I absolutely would have guessed thin film interference.
        
       | HumblyTossed wrote:
       | I know it's wasteful, but I can't eat meat like this. I just lose
       | my appetite.
        
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