Myofibrillar proteins are particularly sensitive to ionising radiation and direct absorption of energy in the protein could lead to scission of bonds. Lakritz etal.(1987), found that in bovine longissimus dorsi muscle irradiated (5–50 kGy) 72 h after slaughter the changes in muscle structure were less at lower doses but at higher doses a major increase in myofibrillar fragmentation with concomitant decrease in tensile strength,shear value (W–B) and myosin content (onSDS-PAGE) was noted.