Effect of Pelvic Suspension on Meat Quality of Wild Hokkaido Sika Deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis)

抄録

Hokkaido sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis), endemic to Hokkaido, are wild animals. Improving tenderness and shortening the carcass-suspension duration by pelvic suspension (PS) can substantially contribute to the spread and utilization of Hokkaido sika venison. However, data on the effect of PS on the tenderness of Hokkaido sika venison are lacking. Therefore, we investigated the effect of PS on the quality of wild Hokkaido sika venison compared to conventional Achilles tendon suspension (AS) over 1, 3, and 5 days. PS improved the tenderness and water-holding capacity (WHC) of m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum, m. semimembranosus, m. biceps femoris, and m. quadriceps femoris by suppressing postmortem rigor-induced sarcomere contraction. A 1-day suspension with PS improved the tenderness of these muscles, compared to AS. However, PS did not improve the tenderness of m. psoas major. In m. semitendinosus, PS elongated sarcomere lengths and improved WHC but did not enhance tenderness. Body weight and sex did not affect the tenderizing effects of PS in venison; however, WHC in male venison was inferior to that in female venison. Overall, these findings suggest that PS effectively improves the tenderness and WHC of venison in most major muscles of Hokkaido sika deer.