Exploring the unknowns involved in the transformation of muscle to meat

Meat quality development, or the transformation of muscle to meat, involves a myriad of biochemical pathways that are largely well-studied in living muscle tissue. However, these pathways are less predictable when homeostatic ranges are violated. In addition, there is far less known about how variou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Meat science 2013-12, Vol.95 (4), p.837-843
Main Authors: England, E.M., Scheffler, T.L., Kasten, S.C., Matarneh, S.K., Gerrard, D.E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Energy Metabolism
Food Quality
Glycolysis
Glycolysis - physiology
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Meat - analysis
Mitochondria
Mitochondria - metabolism
Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism
Pork
Postmortem Changes
Ultimate pH
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Summary:Meat quality development, or the transformation of muscle to meat, involves a myriad of biochemical pathways that are largely well-studied in living muscle tissue. However, these pathways are less predictable when homeostatic ranges are violated. In addition, there is far less known about how various management or environmental stimuli impact these pathways, either by substrate load or altered cellular environment. Likewise, it is largely accepted that oxygen plays little to no role in the conversion of muscle to meat, as anaerobic metabolism predominates in the muscle tissue. Even so, the oxygen tension within the tissues does not fall precipitously at exsanguination. Therefore, transition to an anaerobic environment may impact energy metabolism postmortem. Antemortem handling, on the other hand, clearly impacts meat quality development, yet the exact mechanisms remain a mystery. In this paper, we will attempt to review those factors known to affect postmortem energy metabolism in muscle and explore those areas where additional work may be fruitful. •We review Scopes' work with postmortem metabolism.•We review the notion that aerobic metabolism plays a role in postmortem metabolism.•We briefly review biochemical changes in tissues in response to antemortem handling.
ISSN:0309-1740
1873-4138
DOI:10.1016/j.meatsci.2013.04.031