Abstract：Physicochemical changes of donkey hind leg muscle such as pH, cooking loss, myofibrillar fragmentation index
(MFI), myofibrillar protein dissolution and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) value during postmortem aging at 0–4 ℃
were studied. It was shown that the pH value of donkey meat reached its limit (pH 5.8) at 34 h postmortem. The maximum
cooking loss of 29.55% was found at 2 day postmortem. The MFI significantly increased in the early stage of aging, and
it overall tended to rose throughout the aging period. The minimum myofibrillar protein dissolution appeared at 2 day
postmortem. The TVB-N value gradually rose and its increase was evidently accelerated in the late stage of aging.
