Comparing Gas and Electrical Stunning: Effects on Meat Quality of Pigs When Pre-Stunning Physical Activity Is Minimal

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Abstract

A total of thirty pigs were experimentally slaughtered using gas (80% CO ₂ in air, 90 s; 30% CO ₂/70% N ₂O; 90 s) or electrical stunning (1.3 A, 10 s). Stunning may accelerate post-mortem muscle metabolism, due to psychological stress and/or muscle contractions. The specific effects of the stunning method were studied by limiting pre-stunning physical activity and stress: pigs were driven in a trolley from the rearing to the stunning site (6.5 m) and immediately slaughtered. Bleeding efficiency and carcass characteristics were similar and satisfactory for all stunning methods. Early post-mortem pH decline in the Longissimus lumborum was faster following gas compared to electrical stunning. The pH of other muscles was not influenced; color and drip loss showed minor effects. Hence, results are in contrast to current beliefs: compared to electrical stunning, following gas stunning, the stress and muscle contractions during the induction of unconsciousness have a slightly greater impact on Longissimus lumborum muscle metabolism; differences are minor and limited to certain muscles only.

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Mechanisms of water-holding capacity of meat: The role of postmortem biochemical and structural changes.

S Lonergan, Elisabeth Huff-Lonergan (2005)

Unacceptable water-holding capacity costs the meat industry millions of dollars annually. However, limited progress has been made toward understanding the mechanisms that underlie the development of drip or purge. It is clear that early postmortem events including rate and extent of pH decline, proteolysis and even protein oxidation are key in influencing the ability of meat to retain moisture. Much of the water in the muscle is entrapped in structures of the cell, including the intra- and extramyofibrillar spaces; therefore, key changes in the intracellular architecture of the cell influence the ability of muscle cells to retain water. As rigor progresses, the space for water to be held in the myofibrils is reduced and fluid can be forced into the extramyofibrillar spaces where it is more easily lost as drip. Lateral shrinkage of the myofibrils occurring during rigor can be transmitted to the entire cell if proteins that link myofibrils together and myofibrils to the cell membrane (such as desmin) are not degraded. Limited degradation of cytoskeletal proteins may result in increased shrinking of the overall muscle cell, which is ultimately translated into drip loss. Recent evidence suggests that degradation of key cytoskeletal proteins by calpain proteinases has a role to play in determining water-holding capacity. This review will focus on key events in muscle that influence structural changes that are associated with water-holding capacity.

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Current research in meat color.

R Mancini, Andrea Hunt (2005)

This review surveyed recent literature focused on factors that affect myoglobin chemistry, meat color, pigment redox stability, and methodology used to evaluate these properties. The appearance of meat and meat products is a complex topic involving animal genetics, ante- and postmortem conditions, fundamental muscle chemistry, and many factors related to meat processing, packaging, distribution, storage, display, and final preparation for consumption. These factors vary globally, but the variables that affect basic pigment chemistry are reasonably consistent between countries. Essential for maximizing meat color life is an understanding of the combined effects of two fundamental muscle traits, oxygen consumption and metmyoglobin reduction. In the antemortem sector of research, meat color is being related to genomic quantitative loci, numerous pre-harvest nutritional regimens, and housing and harvest environment. Our knowledge of postmortem chilling and pH effects, atmospheres used for packaging, antimicrobial interventions, and quality and safety of cooked color are now more clearly defined. The etiology of bone discoloration is now available. New color measurement methodology, especially digital imaging techniques, and improved modifications to existing methodology are now available. Nevertheless, unanswered questions regarding meat color remain. Meat scientists should continue to develop novel ways of improving muscle color and color stability while also focusing on the basic principles of myoglobin chemistry.

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Biochemistry of exercise-induced metabolic acidosis.

Robert Robergs, Farzenah Ghiasvand, Daryl L. Parker (2004)

The development of acidosis during intense exercise has traditionally been explained by the increased production of lactic acid, causing the release of a proton and the formation of the acid salt sodium lactate. On the basis of this explanation, if the rate of lactate production is high enough, the cellular proton buffering capacity can be exceeded, resulting in a decrease in cellular pH. These biochemical events have been termed lactic acidosis. The lactic acidosis of exercise has been a classic explanation of the biochemistry of acidosis for more than 80 years. This belief has led to the interpretation that lactate production causes acidosis and, in turn, that increased lactate production is one of the several causes of muscle fatigue during intense exercise. This review presents clear evidence that there is no biochemical support for lactate production causing acidosis. Lactate production retards, not causes, acidosis. Similarly, there is a wealth of research evidence to show that acidosis is caused by reactions other than lactate production. Every time ATP is broken down to ADP and P(i), a proton is released. When the ATP demand of muscle contraction is met by mitochondrial respiration, there is no proton accumulation in the cell, as protons are used by the mitochondria for oxidative phosphorylation and to maintain the proton gradient in the intermembranous space. It is only when the exercise intensity increases beyond steady state that there is a need for greater reliance on ATP regeneration from glycolysis and the phosphagen system. The ATP that is supplied from these nonmitochondrial sources and is eventually used to fuel muscle contraction increases proton release and causes the acidosis of intense exercise. Lactate production increases under these cellular conditions to prevent pyruvate accumulation and supply the NAD(+) needed for phase 2 of glycolysis. Thus increased lactate production coincides with cellular acidosis and remains a good indirect marker for cell metabolic conditions that induce metabolic acidosis. If muscle did not produce lactate, acidosis and muscle fatigue would occur more quickly and exercise performance would be severely impaired.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Mónica Flores Llovera: Role: Academic Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Foods

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Foods

Journal ID (publisher-id): foods

Title: Foods

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 2304-8158

Publication date (Electronic): 03 February 2021

Publication date Collection: February 2021

Volume: 10

Issue: 2

Electronic Location Identifier: 319

Affiliations

[1 ]INRAE, VetAgro Sup, UMR Herbivores, Université Clermont Auvergne, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France; veronique.deiss@ 123456inrae.fr

[2 ]INRAE, QuaPA, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France; thierry.astruc@ 123456inrae.fr

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[* ]Correspondence: claudia.terlouw@ 123456inrae.fr

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E. M. Claudia Terlouw https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8249-1100

Article

Publisher ID: foods-10-00319

DOI: 10.3390/foods10020319

PMC ID: 7913529

PubMed ID: 33546330

SO-VID: b834c93a-28c1-42e2-b47b-11381dc84d34

License:

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Comparing Gas and Electrical Stunning: Effects on Meat Quality of Pigs When Pre-Stunning Physical Activity Is Minimal

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Most cited references 40

Mechanisms of water-holding capacity of meat: The role of postmortem biochemical and structural changes.

Current research in meat color.

Biochemistry of exercise-induced metabolic acidosis.

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