Abstract
PALE, soft and exudative (PSE) pig muscle is characterized by a rapid rate of postmortem glycolysis with decreases in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate (CP) levels (Briskey, 1964; Bendall, Hallund and Wismer-Pedersen, 1963; Koch, 1969). Rapid glycolysis results in an accumulation of lactic acid and a resultant fall in pH, which in combination with a high muscle temperature produces the PSE condition (Wismer-Pedersen and Briskey, 1961; Sayre and Briskey, 1963). Lysosomes are small cytoplasmic organelles, which contain many acid hydrolases within the lysosomal membrane (Hirsch and Cohn, 1964). Activity of lysosomal acid hydrolases is increased by many treatments including low pHs and high temperatures (Weisman, 1964; Stagni and De Bernard, 1968), which labilize the membrane. An early manifestation of lysosomal disorganization or disruption is the activation of mitochondrial ATPase (Mellors et al., 1967). There is a marked increase in the activity of lysosomal enzymes in white muscle disease of lambs (Desai, 1966), which has a pale appearance similar to PSE muscle. Copyright © 1971. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1971 by American Society of Animal Science.