Table 1.
Effects of pre-slaughter heat stress temperature and exposure time on the initial core temperature of pectoralis major muscles and on the cortisol concentration in the blood (n = 12)
| Item | Heat stress temperature (°C) | Heat stress time (h) | Significance | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Control | 36 | 38 | 40 | SE | 1 | 2 | SE | Temp | Time | Temp×time | |
| Temperature (°C) | 41.57b | 43.86a | 44.14a | 44.52a | 0.19–0.22 | 43.40 | 43.64 | 0.14–0.15 | ** | NS | NS |
| Cortisol (nmol/L) | <0.50c | 3.73b | 5.93a | 5.96a | 0.45–0.53 | 3.66 | 4.25 | 0.32–0.35 | ** | NS | NS |
SE, standard error; Temp, temperature; NS, no significance.
**
p<0.01.
a–c
Means in a row within different treatments with a different letter differ significantly.