The goal of the experiment presented here was to measure, at
macroscopic scale using a specific experimental apparatus, the
fluorescence anisotropy of bovine muscles during their maturation
period, i.e. at different post mortem times. To overcome inter-sample
variability due to muscle structure and highlight only maturation
effects, several samples were selected at each post mortem time and
means from the measurements were calculated
4. Experimental results
4.1. Reference tests on mechanical compression
Fig. 3 reports the results obtained in the reference tests on
mechanical compression on Triceps brachii caput longum muscle.
Every point was the average of the measurements for 16 to 21 muscle
samples.
The decrease in maximal constraint at 20% highlights ageingrelated
changes in muscle fibre structure. Rheological parameters are
strictly correlated to the biochemical modifications, indicating the
state of fibre maturation. The decrease in maximal constraint at 20%
translates how the structure of the muscle fibres is gradually
weakened by enzymatic and physico-chemical changes. An important
characteristic of this curve is that the maximal constraint at 20% aims
towards a level corresponding to the residual constraint, which
establishes a reference for optimal maturation (Lepetit, Salé, & Ouali