The influence of exhaustion and electrical stimulation on the meat quality of young bulls: Part 1-Post-mortem pH and temperature

After designing a method of handling cattle so that they reproducibly developed DFD meat, pH and temperature in cattle developing DFD and normal meat, respectively were studied. The influence of low voltage stimulation on both groups was also investigated. Depending on final pH and other characteristics of the meat, the carcasses could be assigned to subgroups representing pronounced DFD, slight DFD and normal meat, with and without electrical stimulation. In normal and in pronounced DFD carcasses electrical stimulation speeded up the pH drop but did not affect the final state of the meat. In stressed animals the pH values are variable for the first few hours post mortem. This effect is enhanced by electrical stimulation which, in carcasses with slight DFD (from stressed but not exhausted animals), may produce extremely fast pH drop and PSE-like meat. There is no evidence that electrical stimulation would influence the incidence of DFD in cattle slaughtered under commercial conditions. In normal animals electrical stimulation raised the carcass temperature during the first few hours post mortem by approximately 2°C. Carcasses from stressed animals had a higher temperature, independent of stimulation.