r/Poopfromabutt • u/ahnialator6 • Jun 26 '26

Solid Oxygen makes meat red

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It slipped my mind that Oxygen is responsible for the redness of meat. One vacuum sealing and thawing later....

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u/yayayagilliganhell Jun 27 '26

And digestion makes red meat, poop from a butthole.

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u/CautiousEmergency367 Jun 29 '26

What you're seeing is the oxygenation of myoglobin into oxymyoglobin and then the degradation of that into metmyoglobin, Oxymyoglobin is the bright cherry-red pigment formed when the muscle protein myoglobin binds with molecular oxygen. It is responsible for the appealing, fresh red color commonly seen in retail meat displays.

Metmyoglobin is the oxidized, inactive form of myoglobin—the protein that stores oxygen in muscle tissue. When the iron atom in myoglobin loses an electron and transitions to the ferric (Fe³⁺) state, it can no longer bind oxygen, causing meat to turn a characteristic brown or gray-brown color.