Relationship between toughness and troponin T in conditioned beef

During conditioning of beef, the decrease in toughness paralleled the loss of troponin T with time. The rates of increase with temperature gave an energy of activation of 72 kJ/mol for troponin T breakdown and 63 kJ/mol for the reduction in toughness. The extents of reduction of the two components were significantly related; loss of troponin T accounted for about 60% of the variation in toughness. We concluded that measurement of the loss of troponin T rovides a good indicator of the rate and extent of toughness changes during conditioning.