EFFECTS OF PRE‐RIGOR TENSION ON TENDERNESS OF INTACT BOVINE AND OVINE MUSCLE

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Abstract
Mechanical and weighted methods of applying pre‐rigor tension to longissimus muscle of ovine and bovine carcasses conventionally hung by a hind shank were studied. The effect of tensioning of carcasses by adding 4.5 kg weights or mechanically stretching the back 5% in length was significant (P < 0.01) and as effective as greater forces in decreasing shear force values, decreasing fiber diameters and increasing sarcomere lengths. Chops and steaks from tensioned carcasses at 48 hr postmortem were as tender as those from non‐tensioned carcasses which had been aged 168–240 hr. Further aging of longissimus muscle of tensioned carcasses continued to decrease shear force values at approximately the same rate at which shear force was decreasing in nontensioned carcasses. The pre‐rigor tension was also effective in reducing animal‐to‐animal tenderness variability.