The effect of exercise stress, adrenaline injection and electrical stimulation on changes in quality attributes and proteins in Semimembranosus muscle of lamb

Abstract

Exercise pre-slaughter has previously been shown to increase drip loss and tenderness in the longissimus muscle of lambs. The mechanism causing higher water loss in post-mortem muscle of lambs is not well understood. This experiment examines the effects of exercise stress, adrenaline injection and electrical stimulation (ES) on meat tenderness and water holding capacity. Forty crossbred lambs (20 ± 2 kg live weight) were used in this study. Meat quality measurements were carried out on the Semimembranosus muscle (SM). The ultimate pH was higher with exercise stress (pH 5.93) compared to controls (pH 5.55; P < 0.01). As expected the glycogen levels 30 min and 24 h post-mortem in the exercise ..