Control of post mortem pH decrease in pig muscles: experimental design and testing of animal models

From a series of experiments aimed at manipulating and relating the resting levels of glycogen and creatine phosphate (CP) in the live muscle four models were selected to induce different rates and extents of pH decrease post mortem in pig muscle. Model A served as the control, animals being slaughtered under minimal stress, in model B animals were subjected to 10 min treadmill exercise at 3.8 km/h immediately prior to stunning, in model C, animals were given 0.2 mg adrenaline/kg live weight 16 h prior to slaughter, and in model D they were given 0.3 mg adrenaline/kg live weight 16 h before slaughter and subjected to 5 min of treadmill exercise immediately before stunning. After slaughter, the decline in pH and temperature post mortem was recorded in M. longissimus dorsi (LD), M. biceps femoris (BF), M. semimembranosus (SM) and M. psoas major (PM) from 1 min to 24 h after bleeding. Significant differences in ultimate pH and the time course of pH decrease were observed, both as an effect of model as well as type of muscle. No differences in ultimate pH between model A and model B were observed in any of the muscles. Ultimate pH in the C and the D models were significantly higher than in A and B. In the B model lower pH values were observed from 1 min to 6 h post bleeding compared to the other three models. No differences in rate of pH decrease were observed between the A and the B models in any of the muscles. Within the A model no differences in ultimate pH between muscles were seen, indicating that the frequently observed differences in ultimate pH are caused by environmental factors rather than by differences in physiological and morphological characteristics. The exercise bouts caused elevated temperatures during the first hour after bleeding (model B and D). The BF muscle in all the models displayed the fastest rate of pH decrease and SM the slowest; a slower rate of temperature decline occurred in the BF than in the SM. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.