Procedure for determination of glycolytic potential in porcine m. longissimus dorsi

The aim of this work was primarily to work out a procedure for removal of samples from LD for determination of glycolytic potential in connection with experiments at commercial abattoirs and secondly to determine the correlation between glycolytic potential and ultimate-pH in Danish pigs. Samples of LD were taken immediately after exsanguination and 30 h post mortem. All samples were analysed for the content of glycogen, glucose, glucose-6-phosphate and lactate to be able to calculate the glycolytic potential. The results showed no difference in glycolytic potential in LD irrespective of sampling time. Samples removed after exsanguination contained a higher amount of glycogen and less lactate than samples removed the day after slaughter, where most of the glycogen had been transformed into lactate. These results show that samples for determination of glycolytic potential in LD can be removed the day after slaughter in the chilling room instead of being removed immediately after sticking at the slaughter line, which is less practical and hygienic. There was a significant correlation (-0.61) between glycolytic potential in LD and ultimate pH in LD.