Effect of Livestock Breed, Type of Skeletal Muscle,Nutritional Content and Number of Days since Slaughter on the Freezing Point of Beef, Pork, and Chicken

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of livestock breed, type of skeletal muscle, nutritional content and number of days since slaughter on the freezing point of samples of beef (n = 45), pork (n = 10) and chicken (n = 12). The freezing points of the beef samples, －1.05℃ (Japanese Black; feeder cattle) and －1.18℃ (fattening cattle), －1.18℃ (Crossbred; fattening cattle), and －1.08℃ (Holstein; fattening cattle), were not affected by the livestock breed or by the type of skeletal muscle. The freezing points of the pork samples were －1.13℃ (Three-way cross swine) and －1.12℃ (Berkshire). The freezing points of the chicken samples, －1.11℃ (Broiler) and －1.13℃ (Japanese old-style native), were not affected by the livestock breed or by the type of skeletal muscle, respectively. The average values of the freezing point by livestock type were: －1.12℃ for beef, －1.15℃ for pork, and －1.12℃ for chicken, with an overall average of －1.13℃ (n = 103). The freezing point was positively correlated with the moisture content of the overall sample of cut meat. When the super-chilling storage is applied to these meat, we recommend －1.0℃ as a technical temperature setting value.