PSE meat
Under PSE meat is slaughtered understands pork , the pale ( English P ale ), soft ( English S often ) and watery ( english E xudative ) is. This is a quality defect , but from a health point of view, the meat is still fully edible.
Physiological causes
PSE meat mostly occurs in crossbred animals in which the sire of the Piétrain breed carries a special gene. The crossbred animals have a much higher meat-forming ability than the original lines, due to heterosis effects . In the event of stress (e.g. transport to the slaughterhouse), malignant hyperthermia occurs , so that the back muscles are exposed to a temperature above 42 ° C. Among other things, this is due to the pig's heart, which tends to be too weak, which cannot lower the increased temperature in the affected tissue. This causes the muscle to denature before it actually dies . The back swells on both sides during this process. The name for this effect is called "Banana Back". The so-called halothane test can be used to determine whether the father animals are carriers of this special gene . Thanks to this simple process, in which the carrier animals are selected, this meat can hardly be found on the market today.
If these crossbred animals are exposed to stress before the slaughter process or during the slaughter process (slaughtering without a break, for example), this leads to an activation of the metabolism combined with an increased production of lactic acid . After slaughter , this lactic acid can no longer be removed from the muscles via the bloodstream and acidifies the tissue there. In addition, there is a strong activation of the enzyme adenosine triphosphatase , which increases the muscle activity of the dead animal and accelerates the breakdown of ATP. As a result of these findings, the pH value falls to values below 5.8 within a short time due to the formation of lactic acid. Partial denaturation of muscle proteins occurs.
Characteristics of PSE meat
Due to the partial denaturation of muscle protein, the meat's ability to bind water is reduced. There may be excessive water release when heated, which leads to increased toughness or dryness. Accordingly, PSE meat is suitable e.g. B. not for quick frying. When the meat is denatured, the refraction of light changes, which causes its pale color. Due to the increased water content or the increased amount of unbound water, the willingness to cure increases, i. H. the diffusion of salts occurs faster than with normal meat. The taste is often described as watery or empty. The shelf life of PSE meat is reduced due to the poor water binding and the mostly moist meat surfaces. Due to the focused breeding, PSE meat is very low in fat.
Web links
- Saxon State Institute for Agriculture: meat quality. (pdf) Retrieved March 10, 2011 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
