Factors Influencing Quality in Pork A. Histological Observations a, b

SUMMARY Seventy‐eight carcasses of pigs, 4–42 months old, provided loins of varied intramuscular fat content. Developed experimental methods indicated that the fixation time and the staining processes of the longissimus dorsi muscle were dependent upon its structure and chemical properties. With an increase in maximum muscle fiber diameter, there was a decrease in the taste‐panel tenderness scores on the cooked longissimus dorsi muscles. There were no significant relations between tenderness measurements and total amount of connective tissue; however, the coarseness of the collagenic connective tissue strands was inversely related to the tenderness of the longissimus dorsi muscle.