The effect of postmortem pH decline rate on mitochondrial apoptosis and tenderness of bovine skeletal muscle during aging

This study aimed to investigate the effect of postmortem pH decline rate on mitochondrial dysfunction-induced apoptosis and bovine muscle tenderness during aging. Protein denaturation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, mitochondrial apoptosis factors, and shear force were assessed in bovine muscles with different pH decline rates. The results showed that compared to the slow group, fast pH decline in bovine muscle significantly increased sarcoplasmic protein denaturation at 6–12 h and mitochondrial ROS levels at 6–24 h (P<0.05), and in turn significantly accentuated mitochondrial dysfunction and cytochrome c oxidation levels (P<0.05), resulting in caspase-3 activation, apoptosis, and reduced muscle shear force (P<0.05). These results demonstrated that the fast postmortem pH decline enhanced mitochondrial apoptosis and bovine muscle tenderization by inducing ROS accumulation during aging.