Effect of rapid chilling on beef quality and cytoskeletal protein degradation in m. longissimus of Chinese Yellow crossbred bulls.

摘要

Effects of rapid chilling (RC) were investigated on beef quality and degradation of cytoskeletal proteins. 20 Chinese Yellow crossbred bulls were selected and randomly divided into 2 groups. RC and conventional chilling (CC) were applied to the left and right sides of carcasses, respectively, after slaughter. To determine whether electrical stimulation (ES) treatment could alleviate the potential hazard of RC on meat quality, ES was applied to 1 group. Effects of the treatments on meat colour, shear force and cytoskeletal protein degradation postmortem were determined. RC decreased beef tenderness at 1 and 3 days postmortem, but had no detrimental effect on meat colour. Western blotting showed that RC decreased degradation rates of desmin and troponin-T, but the effects weakened gradually as postmortem aging progressed. Degradation rates of both desmin and troponin-T were accelerated by ES. Results suggest that a combination of RC and ES could improve beef colour, accelerate degradation rates of cytoskeletal protein and improve beef tenderness.