The Measurement of pH in Muscle and its Importance to Meat Quality

The pH of muscle tissue is extremely important to meat science since the pH at specific times during the conversion of muscle to meat, as well as the ultimate pH of meat, affects many quality factors. The quality factors affected by pH include: color, grading characteristics and shrink of carcasses and wholesale cuts: texture, cooking loss and tenderness of steaks and roasts; and processing and binding characteristics of comminuted and restructured meats. This paper is not intended to be a complete review of the involvement of pH in meat quality, but will outline several of the important relationships, and will indicate many of the parameters which might affect pH measurements. Some of the points discussed may seem self-evident, and are primarily included because of their obvious influence.