Effect of exogenous porcine somatotropin on the functional and textural characteristics of the porcine semimembranosus muscle.

Sixteen barrows and gilts (sex effects were balanced within treatment, but not included in the model for analysis) were used in a 2 (porcine somatotropin; 2 mg.animal-1.d-1 vs control) X 2 (10% dietary fat vs control) X 4 (time postmortem; 0, 3, 6, and 24 h) factorial treatment array to evaluate the effects of porcine somatotropin (pST) administration and level of dietary fat intake on the functional and textural characteristics of the semimembranosus muscle during the first 24 h postmortem. Porcine somatotropin administration resulted in a decrease (P less than .05) in muscle tenderness, an increase (P less than .05) in chilled carcass weight, and an increase (P less than .08) in longissimus muscle area. The pH values were lower over time with elevated levels of dietary fat, but pST resulted in no alterations in muscle pH. The R-values (the ratio of inosine to adenine nucleotides) were unaffected by pST or by level of dietary fat, but the combination of the two resulted in an increase in moisture binding capabilities. It could be concluded from the present study that pST and increased level of dietary fat result in an alteration of certain functional (tenderness) and textural (water binding ability and cooking losses) characteristics of the porcine semimembranosus muscle.