Effects of high voltage electrical stimulation on the rate of pH decline, meat quality and colour stability in chilled beef carcasses

Abstract

Fifty beef carcasses were used to determine the effects of High Voltage Electrical Stimulation (HVES, 800 Volts) on pH and meat quality. Meat from M. longissimus dorsi was examined for pH and temperature at 1, 2, 5, 10 and 24 hours, while tenderness and colour were examined seven days after slaughter. HVES decreased the pH of the meat and accelerated rigor mortis (P<0.05). HVES improved tenderness and colour compared with the control group across the ageing period at 4oC. It is suggested that HVES had positive effects on tenderness and colour. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bvet.v30i1.16283 Bangl. vet. 2013. Vol. 30, No. 1, 33-38

Effects of electrical stimulation and age at slaughter on carcass and meat quality of two Sudanese Baggara beef types

“…The stimulated carcasses had lower pH values at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours post mortem compared with the NES carcasses ( Figure 1). Mombeni et al (2013) reported results that were similar to what was observed in the present study in terms of the effect of ES on the decline in beef carcass pH up to 24 hours post mortem. In other species, Cetin et al (2012) found that the stimulated carcasses of lamb and goat with different levels of voltage (50, 100, and 250 V) resulted in a significant pH decrease up to 24 hours post mortem compared with non-stimulated ones.…”

“…As reviewed by Bekhit et al (2014) and Huang et al (2016), ES accelerates carcass pH decline, causing early activation of protease enzymes and protein degradation, which increases the meat tenderization process. The observed effect of ES on SF agrees with previous works (Li et al, 2006;McKenna et al, 2003;Nazli et al, 2010;Mombeni et al, 2013;Agbeniga & Webb, 2014). As anticipated, the SF values were affected significantly by age at slaughter (Table 3).…”

“…Electrical stimulation provides an additional means of increasing tenderness through changes in muscle fibre structures either by physical disruption or by increasing the activity of protease enzymes (Hwang et al, 2003;Kadim et al, 2009). Electrical stimulation of carcasses has been used to improve tenderness and colour in beef (McKenna et al, 2003;Nazli et al, 2010;Mombeni et al, 2013;Agbeniga & Webb, 2014), lamb (Cetin et al, 2012;Pouliot et al, 2014), goat (Biswas et al, 2007;Cetin et al, 2012;Pophiwa et al, 2016), chicken (Kahraman et al, 2011), and pigs (Channon et al, 2003).…”