| Abstract: | Samples of the two muscles were taken from 8 Landrace fattened pigs, affected with pale, soft exudative meat, during stunning and 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes after death; also 2, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after slaughter, with storage at 20 degrees C for the first six hours and 2-5 degrees C subsequently. Considerable changes were found during the first hour after death, or even in samples taken during stunning, in longissimus dorsi samples. These consisted of destruction of mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum, breakdown of cell membranes, liberation of clumps of fibre protein, disappearance of glycogen, rigor and destruction of capillaries. Such changes would account for the features of pale, soft exudative meat such as water loss, brief rigor, pale colour, deficiency of energy-rich phosphates. By contrast, in the masseter muscles of the same animal these changes did not occur until later, or were in port absent. In both muscle the breakdown of fibres took place by destruction of the "I" bands and the "Z" strips, and this process also commenced in longissimus dorsi before masseter. |
