Alteration of Post‐Mortem Changes in Porcine Muscle by Preslaughter Heat Treatment and Diet Modificationa,b

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Subjecting animals to elevated environmental temperatures immediately before slaughter resulted in increased muscle temperature and a rapid rate of post‐mortem glycolysis as indicated by a rapid pH decline and decreased color intensity. A high‐fat high‐protein low carbohydrate ration improved the water‐binding, color, and texture characteristics of the muscle. The detrimental influence of sugar feeding was less marked than in previous experiments, but muscle from animals receiving the high sucrose ration had the lowest pH and (except for the heat‐treated lot) the highest percent reflectance of all lots at 24 hr post‐mortem. Phosphofructokinase activity was not affected by ante‐mortem treatments and did not appear to be related to glycolytic rate or physical properties of the muscle at 24 hr post‐mortem. The time course of rigor mortis was markedly accelerated by heat treatment.