Buseman, Brianna J.Weber, Tanya M.Nasados, James A.Bass, Phillip D.Van Buren, JessieLancaster, Jessica M.Smart, Jaxon H.Doumit, Matthew E.Murdoch, Gordon K.Price, William J.Insausti Barrenetxea, KizkitzaColle, Michael J.2023-11-092023-11-092020Buseman, B. J., Weber, T. M., Nasados, J. A., Bass, P. D., Van Buren, J. B., Lancaster, J. M., Smart, J. H., Doumit, M. E., Murdoch, G. K., Price, W. J., Insausti, K., Colle, M. J. (2020) Free calcium concentration, calpain-2 activity, and final product tenderness of electrically stimulated beef. Meat and Muscle Biology, 4(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.22175/mmb.10635.2575-985X10.22175/mmb.10635https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/46715The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of timing of electrical stimulation on free calcium concentration, calpain-2 activity, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and consumer sensory analysis. Twenty-three beef steers were harvested and stimulated (S) using extra-low voltage or not stimulated (NS), at exsanguination and/or 1 h postmortem, resulting in 4 different stimulation treatments: NS-NS, NS-S, S-NS, or S-S. Samples were removed from the longissimus lumborum (LL) and semimembranosus (SM) for free calcium and calpain-2 analysis on days 1, 4, and 14 postmortem. WBSF and sensory analysis steaks were removed on day 4 and frozen (4 d) or aged to 14 d postmortem. Data were analyzed using the mixed model or generalized linear mixed model procedure of SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC), with significance determined at P < 0.05. There was a tendency for an aging-period-by-stimulation-treatment interaction for LL free calcium concentration (P = 0.05), and there was a significant difference between aging periods (P < 0.01). No difference was observed in free calcium concentration in the SM between stimulation treatments (P = 0.44); aging, however, significantly increased SM free calcium concentration (P < 0.01). Stimulation did not impact native calpain-2 activity in the LL (P = 0.71) or SM (P = 0.89). Stimulation treatment did not improve tenderness values for WBSF analysis for the LL (P = 0.69) or SM (P = 0.61) or consumer sensory analysis in the LL (P = 0.56) or SM (P = 0.36). A longer aging period tended to increase calpain-2 activity in the SM (P = 0.08), improve WBSF in the LL (P = 0.09), and significantly improve consumer tenderness scores in the SM (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the timing of electrical stimulation utilized in the current study tended to influence free calcium concentration in the LL but did not influence calpain-2 activity or beef tenderness. Aging, however, improved tenderness.application/pdfeng© 2020 Buseman, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY license.BeefCalciumCalpainElectrical stimulationTendernessinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article2023-11-09info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess