Low-voltage Electrical Stimulation Effects on Proteolysis and Lamb Tenderness |
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| Authors: | S. Lee P. Polidori R.G. Kauffman B.C. Kim |
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| Affiliation: | Authors Kim and Lee are with the Dept. of Animal Science, Korea University, Sungbuk-Ku, Anam-Dong, 5–1, Seoul, 136–701, Korea. Author Polidori is with Facolta di Medicina Veterinaria, Universita degli Studi di Camerino, Matelica, Italy. Author Kauffman is with the Muscle Biology Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A. Direct correspondence to B.C. Kim (E-mail: ). |
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| Abstract: | Lamb carcasses were subjected to low‐voltage electrical stimulation (ES; 28 V, 60 Hz) within 5 min postmortem (PM). After ES, the longissimus thoracis (LT) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles were removed to investigate subsequent biochemical changes. The pH values of the ES muscles declined rapidly until the 1st 3 h PM (p < 0.05). The activities of μ‐calpain and calpastatin in ES muscles decreased significantly after 10 h PM (p < 0.05). Both ES LT and SM muscles tended to have lower shear‐force values, which suggested ES might accelerate activation of calpains as well as glycolytic rate, thereby improving muscle tenderness. Differences in thin and troponin‐T degradation between treatments were also observed with time PM. |
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| Keywords: | low-voltage electrical stimulation calpains glycolytic rate tenderness titin troponin-T |
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