Effect of Postmortem Aging Time and Temperature on pH, Tenderness and Soluble Collagen Fractions in Bovine Longissimus Muscle

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Abstract
The effect of postmortem aging time and temperature on pH, tenderness and soluble collagen fractions was determined on wholesale beef ribs. The pH declined more rapidly at 3 C than at 20 C. The lowest pH was reached after 3 days at 3 C and 5 days at 20 C followed by an increase as aging proceeded. Muscle aged for either 3 or 5 days at 20 C was significantly more tender than muscle aged at 3 C for a similar period. Aging temperature had no effect on tenderness at the final comparison of day 7 at 20 C vs day 21 at 3 C. Shear force decreased in a linear (P<.01) fashion as aging time at 3 C increased. However, a significant quadratic effect between shear force and aging time was observed at 20 C with the lowest shear force occurring after aging for 5 days. Neutral salt-and acid-soluble collagen fractions were not affected by either temperature or length of postmortem aging. Copyright © 1976. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1976 by American Society of Animal Science