title: The effect of pre-rigor stretch and contraction on the post-rigor geometry of meat samples in relation to meat toughness.
abstract: The geometry of the muscle fibre and perimysial collagen components of meat subjected to pre-rigor stretch and contraction were examined. The changes in the configurations of these two components accompanying length changes in the muscle were used to explain the reported relationship between raw meat toughness and contraction state. The theory put forward proposes that in raw meat samples the muscle fibre component plays virtually no role in modifying the toughness of the meat sample with contraction state. This theory of the collagen component playing the major role is the same as that reported elsewhere. It is capable of explaining a reverse relationship between meat toughness and contraction state such as is found in cooked meat simply by invoking a firmer consistency for the muscle fibres which then act as fill between the collagen network fibres and hold them at an angle relative to the line of applied force.
authors: CSIRO Division of Food Research, Meat Research Laboratory, PO Box 12, Cannon Hill, 4170, Queensland, Australia.
authors: R W
authors: RW
authors: Rowe