Post mortem changes in porcine longissimus muscle incubated with 0.1 M calcium lactate

The effects of calcium lactate incubation at 5degreesC on post mortem changes in porcine longissimus muscle were studied. Myofibrils were purified from control (CON) and calcium lactate-incubated (CL) muscles. Samples were taken at 0, 1, 3, 7 and 14 days post mortem. SDS-PAGE results showed that the disappearance of titin, nebulin, tropomyosin and troponin-T and the appearance of a similar to30 kDa component were more pronounced in CL samples than in CON samples. Western blots labelled with a monoclonal antibody to desmin also demonstrated that desmin degraded more quickly in CL samples. Our data suggested that calcium lactate incubation might accelerate the post mortem changes in porcine longissimus muscle via activation of calpains. (C) 2001 Society of Chemical Industry.