MUSCLE CHARACTERISTICS AND MEAT TENDERNESS OF CIMATEROL-FED LAMBS

Shear values of loineye muscle from (cimaterol) CIM-fed lambs were 32 and 28% greater than those of controls at 1 and 8 days postmortem. The CIM-fed animals showed lower (p<0.01) cytochrome oxidase activity, lower (p<0.01) initial glycogen, and higher (p<0.05) 24 hr pH in the longissimus and semimembranosus muscles. Intramuscular fat of treated lambs (2%) was lower (p<0.01) than that of controls (5.1%), whereas muscle protein concentration was greater (p<0.05). The decreased aerobic capacity, lower intramuscular fat, lower initial glycogen, higher ultimate muscle pH (5.8-6.2) with subsequently reduced postmortem proteolysis and higher protein concentration all appeared to contribute to greater meat toughness of CIM-fed lambs.