Abstract：Various muscles from Hulunbeir lambs slaughtered at 5 months of age and chilled conventionally for 0, 1, 2,
3 and 4 days, respectively, were investigated for the changes in meat quality after frozen storage. Meanwhile, the aging
mechanism of postmortem muscles was explored and the optimal chilling time was determined. Results showed that during
the chilling period, pH value, cooking loss and shear force value of pork presented significant changes (P ＜ 0.05). pH value
exhibited an upward and then downward trend, while the opposite trend was observed for cooking loss and shear force
value. The lowest shear force value was reached after 2 days of chilling while obtaining lower cooking loss and consequently
the best meat quality.
2014, Vol. 28 
