1. College of Food Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China；
2. Facilitation Office of Specific Animal Husbandry Program in Agricultural Areas of Wulatezhogn Banner,
Bayannuor 015300, China
Abstract：Twelve Bamei sheep raised under the same conditions were selected and killed. Their carcasesses were randomly assigned into two groups of 6 one each for chilling with and without hanging. The changes in postmortem pH during 0.5 -- 48 h and shear force during 24--72 h of different parts of sheep carcass were tested. The results showed that bicepsfemoris, longissimus dorsi and triceps brachii in chilled carcasses without hanging at 6 h and 8 h postmortem exhibited a significantly lower pH than chilled carcasses with hanging （P〈0.05）. No significant changes in pH were observed during post-mortem chilling of sheep carcasses without hanging, while the pH of hung sheep carcasses significantly decreased. In general, the shear force of bicepsfemoris, longissimus dorsi and triceps brachii in hung sheep carcasses was lower than that of non-hung ones during 24--72 h postmortem. Furthermore, the shear force of longissimus dorsi presented the most marked changes during chilling with hanging.
2012, Vol. 26 
