EFFECTS OF INFUSING NITRIC OXIDE DONORS AND INHIBITORS ON PLASMA METABOLITES AND MEAT QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF LAMBS FED A HIGH QUALITY ROUGHAGE-BASED DIET

摘要

Nitric oxide (NO) is a signalling molecule that regulates processes such as force production, blood flow, metabolism, calcium homeostasis and proteolysis in skeletal muscle. Due to the multi-faceted effects of NO in skeletal muscle, it is postulated that altered levels of NO may affect physiological processes that influence meat quality. In previous experiments it was observed that L-NAME (L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride; inhibitor of NO synthase) infusion increased glycogenolysis and improvedtenderness of meat in lambs (Cottrell et al. 2002). The present study extended these observations by considering the effect of an NO donor (L-Arginine) and NO inhibitor (L-NAME) on meat quality.