Postmortem Loss of Carnitine from Skeletal Muscle of Pork and Beef

The carnitine content of beef muscle postmortem was more than twofold higher than the content of pork muscle. For both pork and beef, carnitine was distributed among the fractions, free carnitine ≫ short‐chain acylcarnitine > long‐chain acylcarnitine concentration. Based on total carnitine content, the only loss of carnitine from pork muscle occurred as a result of cooking. Cooking also reduced total carnitine content of beef muscle. In addition, total carnitine content of the beef steaks was lower after thawing. Time in the retail case did not influence carnitine content.