Bovine muscle shortening and protein degradation after electrical stimulation, excision and chilling

C. P. Salm, J. C. Forrest, E. D. Aberle, E. W. Mills, A. C. Snyder, M. D. Judge

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electrical stimulation-dependent improvement in beef tenderness resulted from mechanisms other than avoidance of cold shortening in excised muscle chilled at a normal rate (10°C at 10h post-stimulation). At normal chilling rate, electrical stimulation enhanced degradation of the myofibrillar proteins, alpha actinin and troponin-T, and increased the amount of a 30 000 dalton protein, as assessed by gel electrophoresis, whereas sarcomere lengths were not different from unstimulated muscle. Under slightly accelerated chilling conditions (10°C at 5 h post stimulation), electrical stimulation prevented cold shortening but the meat was more tender than, and had the same sarcomere length as, unstimulated muscle chilled to 10°C in 10 h. Electrical stimulation did not improve the tenderness of beef chilled at a rapid rate (10°C at 2 h post stimulation), nor did it prevent cold shortening when muscles were chilled rapidly.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)163-183
Number of pages21
JournalMeat Science
Volume8
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1983

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Food Science

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