Electron microscopy of contractile bands in low voltage electrical stimulation beef

Xin Luo; Yan Zhu; Guanghong Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2008.03.017

Electron microscopy of contractile bands in low voltage electrical stimulation beef

Meat Sci. 2008 Nov;80(3):948-51. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2008.03.017. Epub 2008 Mar 26.

Authors

Xin Luo¹, Yan Zhu, Guanghong Zhou

Affiliation

¹ College of Food Science and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, No. 61, Daizong Street, Taian, Shandong Province 271018, PR China.

PMID: 22063623
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2008.03.017

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the effects of low voltage electrical stimulation and delay chilling on the ultrastructure of beef longissimus muscle. The results showed that 44.9% of sarcomeres in the ES samples had contractile zones, and 16.9% of sarcomeres adjacent to contractile zones were stretched in 100 views of electron microscopy. The ultrastructures of 60.9% of sarcomeres changed when the samples were electrically stimulated and then delay-chilled. Contractile bands play an important role in meat tenderization during postmortem aging.