The temperature at 5-min postmortem decreased significantly in both LD and BF muscles of pigs rested for 3 h, showing a reduction in temperature of approximately 1.5 °C relative to the pigs slaughtered immediately. However, T24 of both muscles did not differ significantly among the four groups.
Drip loss was significantly decreased in BF of pigs slaughtered after 3 h lairage, and the same tendency was noted in LD. However, pigs rested for 8 h or 24 h had no decreased drip loss compared to 3 h lairage.