POULTRY MEAT - DETERMINING FREEZING METHO DS

The suitability of PAGIF (isoelectric focussing in polyacrylamide gel) for determining freezing methods in the meat of chickens, turkeys, ge ese and ducks was examined. The activity of the mitochondrial enzyme H ADH (beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase) was also determined in parall el. The investigation showed that a band was present at pI 9.45 in the pherogram of thawed breast and thigh musculature but was absent in th e fresh musculature. The amount of pressure exerted to obtain pressed muscle juice influenced the result as little as did the length of refr igerated storage, the length of frozen storage, the frozen storage tem perature or the thawing conditions. Repeated freezing or the use of pr essed juices frozen later had no influence either. The biochemical str ucture of the band found could not be explained. It was not, however, as one might expect, the mitochondrial enzymes HADH or GOT. It was als o found that the separation of heart muscle juice by means of PAGIF pr oduced a still clearer band. PAGIF and enzyme activity measurement sho uld be carried out in parallel for all investigations, although our ex perience has shown that PAGIF gives better results.