CHUCK LONGISSIMUS AND INFRASPINATUS MUSCLE CHARACTERISTICS AS AFFECTED BY RIGOR STATE, BLADE TENDERIZATION AND CALCIUM-CHLORIDE INJECTION

Blade tenderization resulted in increased (P<0.05) tenderness scores o f postrigor longissimus muscle after 7 days storage. However, no impro vements (P>0.05) in tenderness of prerigor CaCl2 injected infraspinatu s and longissimus muscles were observed due to blade tenderization nor was percentage of collagen affected. Prerigor, blade tenderized CaCl2 injected muscles were generally less tender (P<0.05), as measured by sensory panel and shear force, than postrigor muscles independent of b lade tenderization. Furthermore, prerigor CaCl2 injected samples had l ower texture scores for both muscles and lower flavor scores for infra spinatus than samples from postrigor muscles. Blade tenderization did not affect microbial load or color nor did CaCl2 influence color.