• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2018

Meat comes from the skeletal muscles of farm animals, such as pigs, chickens, and cows. Skeletal muscles are composed of many muscle fibers. Muscle fibers are categorized into three types, fiber type I, IIA, and IIB, based on their contractile speed and metabolic properties. Different muscle fiber types have different biochemical, physiological, and biophysical characteristics. Especially, the characteristics of muscle fiber type I and IIB are opposite to each other. Muscle fiber type I has a relatively strong oxidative metabolic trait and a higher content of lipids. In contrast to fiber type I, muscle fiber type IIB has a strong glycolytic metabolic trait and a relatively lower content of lipids and a higher content of glycogen. Muscle fiber type IIA has intermediate properties between fiber type I and IIB. Thus, muscles with different fiber type compositions exhibit different ante- and post-mortem muscle characteristics. In particular, the different metabolic traits of muscles due to the different compositions of the fiber types strongly affect the biochemical and physiological processes during the conversion of muscle to meat and subsequently influence the quality of the meat. Therefore, understating muscle metabolism and muscle fiber characteristics is very important when discussing the traits of meat quality. This review is an overview on basic muscle metabolism, muscle fiber characteristics, and their influence on meat quality and finally provides a comprehensive understanding about the fundamental traits of muscles and meat quality.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.667-671
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• 2005

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the muscle mass and fiber number on post-mortem metabolic rates and pork quality. Carcass traits, muscle fiber characteristics, and type of fiber composition were evaluated using a sample of 200 cross-bred pigs. The muscle mass was divided into two groups according to carcass weight and loin-eye area measurements (heavy or light). In addition, the muscle histological characteristics were divided into two groups according to the muscle fiber density and total number of muscle fibers (high or low). All the carcass traits were significantly different in the muscle mass groups. Increasing weight significantly affected the cross-sectional area (CSA) of all fibers. The low group, which had a low muscle fiber number indicating a larger CSA of fibers, and especially the heavy-low group had the highest CSA levels of fibers. The fiber number percentage and the area percentage were significantly different in the groups categorized by fiber number. The heavy-high group indicated a normal rate of pH decline and the R-value. In addition, pigs with a heavy muscle mass and high muscle fiber number indicated normal drip loss, lightness, and protein denaturation. The present results suggest that increasing the total muscle fiber number has a beneficial effect on increasing the muscle mass without deteriorating the meat quality.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.251-265
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• 2024

Meat derived from skeletal muscles of animals is a highly nutritious type of food, and different meat types differ in nutritional, sensory, and quality properties. This study was conducted to compare the results of previous studies on the muscle fiber characteristics of major porcine skeletal muscles to the end of providing basic data for understanding differences in physicochemical and nutritional properties between different porcine muscle types (or meat cuts). Specifically, the muscle fiber characteristics between 19 major porcine skeletal muscles were compared. The muscle fibers that constitute porcine skeletal muscle can be classified into several types based on their contractile and metabolic characteristics. In addition, the muscle fiber characteristics, including size, composition, and density, of each muscle type were investigated and a technology based on these muscle fiber characteristics for improving meat quality or preventing quality deterioration was briefly discussed. This comparative review revealed that differences in muscle fiber characteristics are primarily responsible for the differences in quality between pork cuts (muscle types) and also suggested that data on muscle fiber characteristics can be used to develop optimal meat storage and packaging technologies for each meat cut (or muscle type).

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.957-968
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• 2020

The influence of muscle architecture on muscle fiber characteristics and meat quality has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, muscle fiber characteristics on the chop surface of pork loin (M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum, LTL), pennation angle degree, and meat quality were evaluated to understand the pork LTL architecture and its relationship with the loin chop quality. Muscle fiber pennation degree ranged from 51.33° to 69.00°, resulting in an ellipse-shaped muscle fiber on the surface of pork loin chop. The cross-sectional area (CSA) on the sections cut vertical to the muscle length (M-Vertical) was considerably larger (p<0.05) than that on the sections cut vertical to the muscle fiber orientation (F-Vertical) regardless of the fiber type. Pennation angle is positively correlated with CSAs of F-Vertical (p<0.05) and with Warner-Bratzler shear force (r=0.53, p<0.01). Besides the shear force, lightness and pH were positively correlated with the fiber composition and CSA of IIX fiber (p<0.05); however, the redness, yellowness, drip loss, and cooking loss were not correlated with the pennation angle and muscle fiber characteristics on the chop surface (p>0.05). These observations might help us in better understanding pork loin architecture and the relationship between the pennation angle, muscle fiber characteristics, and meat quality of pork loin chop.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.665-671
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• 2010

Muscle fiber characteristics and their relationship to water-holding capacity of longissimus dorsi (ld) muscle were studied in Brahman (BRA) and Charolais (CHA) crossbred bulls fattened under practical farm conditions. Thirty-four BRA and 34 CHA bulls were randomly selected and slaughtered at 500, 550 and 600 kg live weight. Parameters of water-holding capacity such as drip, ageing, thawing, cooking and grilling loss were determined. Muscle fiber characteristics were conducted for muscle fiber type percentage and cross-sectional areas of slow- and fast-twitch fiber types, and correlation coefficients to water-holding capacity parameters were calculated. Results showed that CHA meat had a better water-holding capacity (less ageing, thawing and grilling loss) when compared with BRA, whereas slaughter weights had no significant effects on these parameters. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between genotypes and slaughter weights in muscle fiber type percentage and cross-sectional areas of ld muscle. Slow- and fast-twitch fiber types of all experimental groups averaged 24.4 and 75.6%, respectively. Cross-sectional areas of fast-twitch fibers had almost twice the size of slow-twitch fibers (6,721 and 3,713 ${\mu}m^2$, respectively). The correlation between muscle fiber area and water-holding capacity indicated that muscles with larger fiber areas had a lower drip and ageing loss but a higher cooking and grilling loss.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.428-433
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• 2004

The aim of this study was to investigate the histochemical parameters of muscle fibers, and to estimate the correlation between these histological parameters and carcass traits in pigs. A total of 230 crossbred Duroc$\times$(Yorkshire$\times$Landrace) pigs (149 gilts and 81 castrated male pigs) was evaluated. Carcass traits (carcass weight, backfat thickness, and loin eye area), muscle fiber size (crosssectional area, diameter, and perimeter), muscle fiber number (density of fibers/$mm^2$ and total number of fibers), and fiber type composition (percentages of myofibers and relative areas of each fiber type) were evaluated. Mean cross-sectional area (CSA) and type IIB fiber CSA were positively correlated to carcass weight, backfat thickness and loin eye area. Mean fiber CSA was mostly related to type IIB CSA (r=0.98) as a result of the high percentage of type IIB fibers in the longissimus muscle. Correlations between fiber diameters and perimeters were also high, and showed similar results with CSA. Mean fiber density was negatively correlated to carcass weight (r=-0.24), backfat thickness (r=-0.18) and loin eye area (r=-0.27). To the contrary, total fiber number was positively correlated with carcass weight (r=0.27) and loin eye area (r=0.53). Carcass weight and loin eyZe area were not significantly related to muscle fiber composition. For backfat thickness, there was an opposition between type IIA percentage, which was positively related and type IIB percentage, which was negatively related. Fiber type composition of type I and IIA fibers were negatively correlated to that of type IIB fibers (r=-0.67 to -0.74). In the present study, carcass weight and loin eye area were positively correlated to CSA and negatively correlated to fiber density. But, these relationships were generally low. The fiber density was strongly affected by muscle fiber size and the total fiber number was affected either by CSA of muscle fiber and loin eye area. Fiber type composition was much more related to their numerical abundance than their CSA.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.61-74
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• 1994

This study was carried out to determine effects of electrical stimulation on the soleus, target muscle of the sciatic newt, of white rat normal muscles. The biometric, histochemical, ultrastructural observations were made. The following results were obtained. A daily electrical stimulation of the skeletal muscle of the normally-functioning rat caused an increase of girth and weight of the muscle fibers for 2 weeks. No noticeable change was observed afterwards. More specifically, the density of volume of the red muscle fiber increased. whereas the density of the white muscle fiber decreased. The electrical stimulation group(experimental group) showed hypertrophy of the muscle fibers and narrowing of the space between perimysium and endomysium. Normally, glycogen granules are accumulated regardless of classification of muscle fibers. In addition, the NADH-TR reaction results were in agreement with the biometric findings, in that the red muscle fibers significantly increased. The ultrastructural observations revealed that mitochondria was formed in the red muscle fiber parallel to the muscle fibers of normal muscle, while mitochondria was observed in the sarcomere region of the white muscle fiber. However, activation of mitochondria took place in the sarcolemma region of the muscle fiber, and generation of mitochondria was observed in the sarcomere region of the white muscle fiber.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2024

The health benefits of dietary fiber are widely recognized, but its impact on muscle health remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the relationship between dietary fiber intake and muscle strength through a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Korea National Health and Examination Survey (KNHANES). Data from a single 24-h dietary recall and handgrip strength tests of 10,883 younger adults aged 19 to 64 years and 3,961 older adults aged ≥ 65 years were analyzed. Low muscle strength was defined as handgrip strength < 28 kg for men and < 18 kg for women. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the association of dietary fiber intake with muscle strength. Approximately 43% of Korean adults met the recommended intake of dietary fiber, and those with higher dietary fiber consumption also had higher total energy and protein intake. After adjusting for confounding variables, dietary fiber intake was found to be positively associated with maximal handgrip strength in younger women aged 19 to 64 years (β = 0.015; standard error [SE] = 0.006) and older men aged ≥ 65 years (β = 0.035; SE = 0.014). For older women aged ≥ 65 years, those in the lowest quartile of dietary fiber intake had a higher risk of low muscle strength than those in the highest quartile after adjustment of confounders (odds ratio 1.709; 95% confidence interval 1.130-2.585). These results suggest that adequate dietary fiber intake may reduce the risk of sarcopenia in older Korean women.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.873-883
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• 2017

Variations in the definition of poultry meat quality exist because the quality traits are not solely based on intrinsic and extrinsic factors but also consumers' preference. Appearance quality traits (AQT), eating quality traits (EQT), and reliance quality traits (RQT) are the major factors focused by the consumer before buying good quality of poultry meat. AQT and EQT of poultry meat are controlled by physical and biochemical characteristics of muscle fibers which can be categorized into a total number of fibers (TNF), cross-sectional area of fibers (CSAF), and fiber type composition (FTC). In poultry meat, it has been shown that muscle fiber properties play a key role in meat quality because numerous studies have reported the relationships between quality traits and fiber characteristics. Despite intensive research has been carried out to manipulate the muscle fiber to improve poultry meat quality, demand in a rapid growth of poultry muscle has correlated to the deterioration in the meat quality. The present paper reviews the definition of poultry meat quality, meat quality traits, and variations of meat quality. Also, this review presents recent knowledge underlying the relationship between poultry meat quality traits and muscle fiber characteristics.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.988-999
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• 2019

To investigate the relationship between muscle fiber characteristics and meat quality traits by age of Korean native black goat (KNBG), four muscles (longissimus dorsi, LD; psoas major, PM; semimembranosus, SM; gluteus medius, GM) were obtained from five adult goat (AG; 18 months old) and five young goat (YG; 9 months old). PM muscle had the highest fiber number percentage (FNP) and fiber area percentage (FAP) of type I, followed by SM, GM, and LD muscles. FNP and FAP of type IIB were significantly (p<0.001) higher in AG than those in YG. YG had higher L^* values but lower b^* values than AG. The highest L^* and b^* values were observed in LD muscle (p<0.001). Age and muscle type had detrimental (p<0.001) effect on shear force and collagen content for all muscle in AG as compared to YG. YG had significantly (p<0.001) higher myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI) than AG for all four muscles. These results suggest that muscle fiber compositions of different muscle types of KNBG depend on age, resulting in variations of meat color, MFI, collagen content, and shear force.