The Basis of Quality in Muscle Foods THE BASIS OF TENDERNESS IN MUSCLE FOODS

Two muscle components, collagen and the contractile apparatus, determine tenderness. The collagen contribution to toughness is due to the presence of intermolecular crosslinks which, with increasing animal age, become more thermally resistant and thus less readily broken during cooking. By contrast, toughness due to the contractile proteins is determined by conditions during the first few postmortem hours, when rapid chilling causes “cold shortening” of the muscles and a consequent very appreciable toughening. Beef and lamb are particularly prone to this process‐induced defect; toughness development in these species can be largely controlled, however, by simple cooling‐rate adjustment during rigor onset.