Thanks to HVES, the percentage of high quality beef increases
(up to 50% of meat is sold at a higher price).
HVES is a short flow of electrical current, similar to nerve impulses, through a carcass conducted within one hour after stunning. It implies dramatic drop in pH of muscle (glycogen, the muscle sugar, converts into lactic acid), which prevents cold shortening.
Comparison of the force needed to cut a piece of meat after Low Voltage Electrical Stimulation (LVES) vs. High Voltage Electrical Stimulation (HVES) and no stimulation (No ES):
Gursansky B., O’Halloran J.M., Egan A., Devine C.E., Tenderness enhancement of beef from Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle following electrical stimulation, Meat Science 86 (2010) 635–641.
When
20 to 50 minutes after slaughter
Best place
Just before splitting
Duration
From 90 to 120 seconds
Current
Around 300V
pH drop of stimulated and non-stimulated meat, just after slaughter:
How it works?
THREE-FOLD PROCESS OF ACCELERATED AGING
The enzymes are freed
(due to meat structure destruction)
The enzymes act faster
(as a result of a lower pH-positive environment)
The enzymes start intensive action
(when the carcass is still warm)
As the result the aging takes 24h instead of 14 days.
In this study, HVES-applied carcasses were tenderer and characterized by greater stability in colour than the control group 7 days post-mortem. Meat in the HVES group on the 7th day was a better red colour than in the control group:
Mombeni E.G. (Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran), Mombeini M.G., Figueiredo L.C., Siqueira L.S.J, Dias D.T., Mombeini A,G., Effects of high voltage electrical stimulation on the rate of pH decline, meat quality and colour stability in chilled beef carcasses, The Bangladesh Veterinarian (2013) 30(1) : 33 – 38.
