Effect of post-mortem conditioning of ewe carcasses on instrumental texture profile of cooked thigh muscles.

The semimembranosus (SM) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles were removed from 18 four to five year old Bannur breed ewes which were slaughtered and carcasses (six each) suspended by the (a) Achilles tendon at 26 ± 2°C for 1 h before cutting (b) Achilles tendon at 2-3°C for 42 h and (c) Pelvis at 26 ± 2°C for 7 h followed by chilling at 2-3°C for 17 h. The muscles were cooked by boiling in a water bath for 30 min or by heating in a pressure cooker for 20 min and the tenderness measured with a Warner-Bratzler tenderometer. Hardness, cohensiveness, elasticity and chewiness were also measured with a General Foods Texturometer. With conventional hanging at 2-3°C the SM muscle was the toughest and the ST muscle the most tender. By holding carcasses at 26 ± °C for 1 h before cooking there was an increased tenderness. The most tender meat was found from carcasses which were suspended by the pelvis at 26 ± °C before chilling. The increase or decrease in shear values were respectively associated with contraction or stretching of muscles effected by carcass conditioning treatments. In contrast, thermal shrinkage due to cooking had opposite effects so that greater thermal shrinkage resulted in lower shear values. The shear values from the Warner-Bratzler tenderometer did not correlate well with the parameters measured by the General Foods Texturometer.

Effect of conditioning and carcass posture on eating quality of mutton from old Bannur ewes.

Twenty-six mature ewes of an indigenous mutton breed, slaughtered and dressed conventionally, were used for the experiment described in this paper. The effect of three different conditioning temperatures and two methods of hanging posture on texture and palatability were assessed on leg muscles. Corresponding muscles from freshly slaughtered ewes were used as a control. A significant reduction was brought about in shear force in SM and BF muscles by different treatment combinations as compared with the control. There was, however, little variation in cohesiveness between treated and untreated BF and ST muscles. Holding carcasses at 14-15°C for 24 h, followed by chilling at 4-5°C for 24 h with pelvic hanging reduced shear values to the optimal level, as validated by sensory tenderness/toughness. The sensory parameters showed a significant difference between pelvic and Achilles tendon hanging. In all treatments pelvic hanging tenderised meat to a significantly greater extent than did Achilles tendon hanging.