Premium
MUSCLE CONTRACTION AND POSTMORTEM pH CHANGES IN PIG SKELETAL MUSCLE
Author(s) -
McLOUGHLIN J. V.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1970.tb01978.x
Subject(s) - curare , gastrocnemius muscle , contraction (grammar) , skeletal muscle , stimulation , muscle contraction , sciatic nerve , anatomy , longissimus dorsi , chemistry , glycolysis , anesthesia , medicine , biology , biochemistry , metabolism , food science
SUMMARY– The initial (5 min) pH of longissimus dorsi muscle taken from live pigs under anesthesia was 7.0; in muscle taken immediately after slaughter it was 6.3. When the neuromuscular blocking agent, curare, was given intramuscularly before slaughter the initial pH was raised to 6.8. The gastrocnemius muscle was stimulated to contract via the sciatic nerve in vivo and the pattern of pH change compared with that of the unstimulated muscle in the other side of the animal. Stimulation caused a fall in initial pH and an acceleration in the subsequent rate of pH fall in the excised muscle under nitrogen at 37°. It was concluded that neural stimuli entering the muscle at the time of death were the major factors involved in the rapid postmortem glycolysis observed in the pigs studied.