Effect ofpost‐mortemtemperature on chickenM. pectoralis major: Isometric tension and pH profiles

Abstract

Abstract 1. The relationship between isometric tension development and pH, as a function of storage temperature between 0° and 40°C, was examined in chicken M. pectoralis major (PM) muscle during the critical 24 h post‐mortem period. 2. The muscle strips incubated at 0°C developed a peak isometric tension of 53.3 g/cm2. This occurred after only 17 min incubation when the pH was 7.02, demonstrating the potential of chicken PM muscle to cold shorten. Peak isometric tension at 5°C was considerably lower than that generated at 0°C. However, as this occurred when the muscle pH was still high (6.70), this also indicated some potential to cold shorten at 5°C. 3. At 10° to 30°C, the muscle strips developed mean peak isometric tensions of 18 g/cm2 after 6 h incubation by which time the muscle pH had fallen to 6.00, demonstrating a limited potential to rigor shorten. In contrast, those incubated at 40°C developed a peak tension of 54.5 g cm2 after 75 min when the muscle pH was also around 6.00, thus indicating the ...