The influence of death struggle on the rate of glycolysis in chicken breast muscle

Experiments were conducted to study the effect of killing procedures on the biochemical metabolites of broiler chicken breast muscle. The degree of struggle at death profoundly affected the onset of rigor mortis both in intact carcases and in muscles stored off the bird. Evidence was obtained that the amount of ATP present in the muscle, and hence the time of onset of rigor , could be estimated by measurement of the pH value of the muscle.