Effect of Fasting and Refeeding on Some Chemical Properties of Porcine Muscle

Abstract

The effects of total and semistarvation on man and other species have been reviewed by Keys et al. (1950). The percent of dry matter in the muscle decreases m starvation, and thus it appears that the muscles become edemic or possibly “water-logged” (Terroine, 1920; Moulton, Trowbridge and Haigh, 1922). Moulton (1920) observed that there was a marked loss of nitrogen as well as of fat in the skeletal muscle of underfed steers. The depletion of fat and decreased lipogenic activity during prolonged fasting, and a markedly increased lipogenic activity during recovery feeding were observed in rats (Miller, Cooper and Freeman, 1957; Smith and Johnson, 1964; Masoro, 1967). Changes in protein fractions of rat muscle were observed by Hagan and Scow (1957), who found that myosin and sarcoplasmic protein decreased, whereas stroma and nonprotein nitrogen fractions were unchanged. The glycogen content of the muscle decreased during fasting (Hershey and Orr, 1928; Suzuki, 1965), but little evidence existed to suggest that fasting affected the glycogen storing ability of the muscle (Hausberger and Glabasnia, 1949). Copyright © 1971. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1971 by American Society of Animal Science.