Meat quality of bison (Bison bison bison) Longissimus thoracis et lumborum following very fast chilling

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Aalhus, J. L.
  • Janz, J. A. M.
  • Price, M. A.

• Very fast chilling (VFC; internal muscle temperature of -1°C by 5 h postmortem) was achieved in the longissimus lumborum (LL), but not in the semimembranosus, of lean bison carcasses after only 4 or 6 h of chilling at -35°C. Rigorous chilling caused a shift in moisture loss from carcass cooler shrink to retail drip loss. Sides exposed to VFC conditions had darker LL colour at 24 h postmortem; however, the difference did not persist to 6 d. While chilling for 2 h at -35°C resulted in an increased shear over conventionally chilled samples, the application of VFC for 4 and 6 h decreased mean shear values and resulted in a slight improvement in tenderness consistency. Sensory evaluation panellists noted marginal, non-significant differences. Factors affecting tenderization were the physical prevention of sarcomere shortening due to surface freezing with increased chilling intensity and a contribution from proteolytic enzyme systems over time postmortem. Very fast chilling is an effective means of reducing carcass chilling time while improving tenderness in the LL of lean bison carcasses.

• Date created

  2002

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Meat quality
  • Bison
  • Very fast chilling

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CG03

• License

  @2002 Janz, J. A. M., Aalhus, J. L., Price, M. A. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.