INFLUENCE OF “ANTE-MORTEM” RESTING TIME AND MOLASSES DIET UPON pH LEVELS OF EQUINES MEAT (Equus caballus)

Abstract

Influence of “ante-mortem” resting time and molasses diet upon pH levels of equines meat (Equus caballus) were studied. It was measured the pH of triceps brachial and biceps femoral muscles in twenty four adults and hybrids equines with approximately  the same weights. The animals were divided, before death, in six groups with ";ante-mortem"; resting time of zero, six, fourteen, eighteen and twenty-four hours, respectively. The animals groups with eighteen hours of rest were divided in two sub-groups and one received water solution with 5% of molasses. The pH was measured using pH meter micronal with zero, six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four and thirty hours after death. The group with smaller pH levels was the group with twenty-four hours of “ante-mortem” resting. Differences in pH levels were not observed between the group fed with water solution with 5% of molasses and the group not fed, but with the same time of rest.