POSTMORTEM CHANGES IN SOME OPTICAL, ELECTRICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF ELECTRICALLY STIMULATED BEEF CARCASSES

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Abstract
Thirty beef steers were slaughtered and their carcasses were split into left and right sides. Right sides were electrically stimulated and were compared to nonstimulated left sides for 24 h postmortem. Electrical capacitance was measured deep in the lumbar region of the longissimus dorsi with a spear-type electrode and a 100-kHz test current. Electrically stimulated sides had faster postmortem rates of decline in electrical capacitance, pH, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration. ATP concentration was correlated with capacitance (r = 0.88, P < 0.005) and with pH (r = 0.84, P < 0.005). At 24 h postmortem, the brightness of the longissimus dorsi was measured by absorbance at 650 nm using a fiber optic probe. Electrically stimulated sides had a lower absorbance than nonstimulated sides (0.62 ± 0.04 vs. 0.67 ± 0.04, respectively, P < 0.01). Data from the fiber optic probe were correlated with subjective evaluations of muscle brightness, r = −0.43, P < 0.005). In stimulated sides (but not in nonstimulated sides), the 0- to 3-h rate of capacitance decline postmortem was correlated with optical absorbance, r = −0.52, P < 0.005. Below pH 6, low capacitance was related to low ATP concentration. The effects of pH on capacitance were sporadic. Key words: Beef quality, electrical stimulation, physical properties

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