Considering these results, slow chilling gives the best results in tenderness
at 24 h post mortem, whereas conventionally chilled carcasses
require 5 days of ageing to reach the same degree of tenderness, and
ultra-fast chilled carcasses, even with improved sensory scores after ageing,
did not achieve slow chilling values. Our results also indicate that
sarcomere length is closely related to shear force in all chilling regimes.
Thus, from an economical point of view, since there were no differences
in weight loss, slow chilling treatment could be an alternative to
achieve a high degree of tenderness, allowing savings in the cost of carcass
storage during ageing.