The influence of temperature on shortening and rigor onset in beef muscle

Abstract

At sufficient ATP concentration and temperatures below about 15°C, pre-rigor beef muscles (neck muscles) contract; this phenomenon is known as cold shortening. There is also a contracture at higher temperatures occurring just before rigor onset which is called rigor shortening. While rigor shortening starts in neck muscles at pH around 6·3–6·0 and at about 2 μMol ATP/g muscle, cold shortening can begin at pH around 7·0 and the full ATP concentration (4 μMol ATP/g) in the muscle. Shortening can take place as long as there is no irreversible formation of the actomyosin complex in the muscle, i.e. before rigor onset occurs, which can be measured by intermittent loading of the muscle. The degree of extensibility which follows starts to decrease at the moment of rigor onset. This irreversible loss of extensibility at temperatures between the freezing point (−1°C) and physiological temperatures (38°C) starts at various pH values and ATP concentrations in the muscle. At 38°C the rigor onset occurs at pH 6·25 and about 2 μMol ATP/g muscle, dropping at 15°C to pH 5·75 and 1 μMol ATP/g muscle. At 0°C, as at all temperatures below 10°C, the loss of extensibility at medium loads (about 250 g/cm 2) begins shortly after cold shortening. This loss of extensibility is reversible by increasing the load or raising the temperature. The irreversible loss, or rigor onset, however, occurs at 0°C with pH of 6·1–6·2 and 1·8–2·0 μMol ATP/g muscle. Thus, the onset of rigor is influenced by more than one factor. Temperature, pH and ATP concentration each play a rôle. Maximum loss of extensibility or completion of rigor is reached between 10°C and 38°C at pH 5·5–5·6 and less than 0·5 μMol ATP/g muscle. At 0°C the completion of rigor takes place at pH 6·0, but still at 0·5 μMol ATP/g muscle. The latter fact shows that the completion of rigor is solely dependent on the ATP concentration in the muscle; nevertheless, the pH of rigor completion is higher in the extreme cold shortening range. This is apparently due to a different pH/ATP relationship in muscles at low temperatures. The results are discussed in terms of changes in the concentration of Ca 2+ ions and ATP. The results are of particular interest for the handling of hot-boned meat; that is, for both the cooling of pre-rigor muscle and the use of hot-boned meat for processing.