Evaluation of the postmortem ageing process of beef M. semitendinosus based on ultrasound-assisted l-histidine treatment

This paper aimed to investigate the postmortem ageing process of beef M. semitendinosus (ST, just slaughtered muscles) using ultrasound-assisted l-histidine treatment. The treatments with different concentrations of l-histidine solutions (0.1%, 0.15%, and 0.2%, w/v) at 4 °C for 60 min were labeled "LH", "MH" and "HH", respectively. Furthermore, the corresponding treatments with the above l-histidine solutions for 55 min after ultrasound pretreatment for 5 min were labeled "ULH", "UMH" and "UHH", respectively. The results showed that the UMH group had the lowest Warner-Bratzler shear stress. The pH value of the HH and UHH groups was higher than that of the other groups (HH: 6.39 ± 0.02, UHH: 6.52 ± 0.03, P < 0.05). The MH and UMH groups showed large fiber spacing, cavities and fractures as well as obviously damaged myofibrils. In the UMH group, the soluble protein concentration (SPC) and caspase-3 activity were the highest, and the turbidity of actomyosin was the lowest. Surprisingly, the Ca²⁺-ATPase activity of actomyosin increased gradually with increasing concentrations of l-histidine solution. Therefore, the UMH treatment promoted the process of meat ageing, exhibiting the potential to be used by beef or other meat manufacturers to improve the production efficiency.

Keywords: Beef M. semitendinosus; Caspase-3 activity; Postmortem ageing; Ultrasound; l-Histidine.