** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING CONSUMER DEMAND FOR HIGH-QUALITY MEAT, IT IS NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND THE FACTORS CONTROLLING THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEAT QUALITY ATTRIBUTES. MEAT QUALITY IS LARGELY INFLUENCED BY THE ALTERATION IN MUSCLE NATURE POST-HARVEST, WHERE A RISE IN MEAT ACIDITY PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE. FOR INSTANCE, THE RATE OF MUSCLE ACIDIFICATION IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR THAT DETERMINES THE COLOR, TEXTURE, AND JUICINESS OF FRESH MEAT, ALL OF WHICH ARE IMPORTANT TO CONSUMERS. ADDITIONALLY, PRESERVING THE COLOR DURING RETAIL DISPLAY IS ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT ASPECT THAT AFFECTS THE VALUE AND APPEAL OF FRESH MEAT TO CONSUMERS.MITOCHONDRIA (CELLULAR ORGANELLES) ARE TYPICALLY THOUGHT TO NOT PLAY A ROLE IN MEAT QUALITY DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE THE ABSENCE OF OXYGEN IN POSTMORTEM MUSCLE LIMITS THEIR FUNCTION. HOWEVER, NEW FINDINGS SHOW THAT MITOCHONDRIA CAN STILL CONSIDERABLY IMPACT THE RATE AND DEGREE OF MUSCLE ACIDIFICATION AND MEAT QUALITY DURING STORAGE, EVEN THOUGH THEIR SPECIFIC ROLE IS NOT ENTIRELY UNDERSTOOD. THEREFORE, THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DELINEATE THE ROLE OF MITOCHONDRIA IN MODULATING THE RATE OF POSTMORTEM MUSCLE ACIDIFICATION AND MEAT COLOR STABILITY DURING STORAGE. THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT INSIGHTS INTO HOW MITOCHONDRIA IMPACT THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING MUSCLE TO MEAT AS WELL AS DIRECTIONS TO IMPROVE THE PREDICTABILITY AND QUALITY OF FRESH MEAT.