SUMMARYThe epimysial connective tissues from normal and PSE longissimus dorsi muscles were subjected to physical characterization. No differences in conventionally determined shrinkage temperatures were observed. However, differential thermal analysis (DTA) studies revealed that epimysium from PSE tissues had lower onset and recovery temperatures and contained a higher percentage of components melting at low temperatures than that from normal tissues. The epimysium from PSE muscles also had a higher initial moisture and lower dry matter content. Epimysial connective tissues underwent osmotic swelling in neutral solutions, with those from PSE muscles imbibing significantly more water than that from normal muscles. Dry matter content decreased during neutral swelling, probably due to a loss of ground substance. Collagen from PSE muscles had a molecular weight between cross‐links (Mc) of 6.37 ± 104and a resultant cross‐link density of 5.23/ molecule, while normal tissues had corresponding values of 4.67 ± 104and 7.73. These differences were only significant at the 10
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