Meat quality traits of longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and triceps brachii muscles from Chianina beef cattle slaughtered at two different ages

The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of muscle and slaughtering age on some meat quality traits of fortyeight carcasses of Chianina beef cattle raised on the same farm and slaughtered at an age ranging between 18 and 21 months. After the usual commercial ageing period for Chianina carcasses, longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and triceps brachii muscles were taken and analyzed instrumentally for pH, meat color, water holding capacity, tenderness and chemical composition. To compare the quality characteristics of the three muscles at different age, all data were subdivided in two groups: slaughtering age 18-19 months (n=25) and 20-21 months (n=23). Quality characteristics of meat derived from the three muscles analyzed were different: semitendinosus muscle showed higher values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*), thus lighter and paler meat, but was less tender and had a higher cooking loss. Meat derived from triceps brachii muscle had the lowest values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*) thus meat slightly darker; with regard to the other quality parameters, longissimus thoracis gave more tender meat with better water holding capacity than triceps brachii. The meat analyzed had a very low content of intramuscular fat (expressed as ether extract (%)), a very well-known characteristic of Chianina meat. The comparison between meat derived from 18-19 month old beef and from 20-21 month old beef shows that only redness (a*) and Chroma (C*) increased significantly with the increase in slaughtering age, but these results do not induce differences in meat color appreciation, as shown by the similar values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*). Water holding capacity, tenderness and chemical composition were not influenced by slaughtering age

Meat quality traits of longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and triceps brachii muscles from Chianina beef cattle slaughtered at two different ages

The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of muscle and slaughtering age on some meat quality traits of fortyeightcarcasses of Chianina beef cattle raised on the same farm and slaughtered at an age ranging between 18 and 21months. After the usual commercial ageing period for Chianina carcasses, longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and tricepsbrachii muscles were taken and analyzed instrumentally for pH, meat color, water holding capacity, tenderness andchemical composition. To compare the quality characteristics of the three muscles at different age, all data were subdividedin two groups: slaughtering age 18-19 months (n=25) and 20-21 months (n=23). Quality characteristics of meatderived from the three muscles analyzed were different: semitendinosus muscle showed higher values of Lightness (L*)and Hue (H*), thus lighter and paler meat, but was less tender and had a higher cooking loss. Meat derived from tricepsbrachii muscle had the lowest values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*) thus meat slightly darker; with regard to the otherquality parameters, longissimus thoracis gave more tender meat with better water holding capacity than triceps brachii.The meat analyzed had a very low content of intramuscular fat (expressed as ether extract (%)), a very well-known characteristicof Chianina meat.The comparison between meat derived from 18-19 month old beef and from 20-21 month old beef shows that only redness(a*) and Chroma (C*) increased significantly with the increase in slaughtering age, but these results do not inducedifferences in meat color appreciation, as shown by the similar values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*).Water holding capacity, tenderness and chemical composition were not influenced by slaughtering age

Effect of dietary Curcuma longa L. powder on lipid oxidation of frozen pork

Introduction - Modification of the eating habits incremented the consumption of ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook and frozen foods. Meat can be store up as frozen for different time in relation to the animal species, to the cut or to a previous processing. Several researches were conducted to evaluate the use of antioxidant products as dietary supplementation in order to produce modification in chemical composition of meat and lead to a positive influence on the length of shelf life of the products. Aim - The aim of this research was to study the effect of the supplementation with Curcuma longa L. powder in pig diet on the lipid oxidation after common frozen storage (-18 °C) of meat for long time (up to 135 days). Materials and methods - Pigs were fed with two different diets, control and turmeric, for 30 days before been slaughtered. Longissimus lumborum chops were frozen at -18 °C and lipid oxidation was evaluated with the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) method after 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 and 135 days of storage. Results and discussion - The addition of the natural antioxidant did not modify the meat quality of the evaluated samples (P > 0.05). Nor the time of storage increased the TBARS value of the meat (P > 0.05). Our results are in accordance with other similar research studies on antioxidant dietary supplementations. Conclusion - Pigs, as large animal, probably need a bigger amount of antioxidant supplementation in order to modified meat characteristics. Thus, the lack of difference in lipid oxidation of frozen meat showed by Control and Turmeric diets could be associated both to the small dose of dietary turmeric powder and to the length of the diet period

Effect of Islamic ritual slaughter on beef quality.

The aim of this study was to evaluate several quality characteristics of meat obtained from 20 Limousine calves slaughtered either according to conventional methods (n=10) or by the Islamic ritual slaughtering procedure (n=10). After 7 days of ageing under vacuum, pH, drip loss, colour and oxymyoglobin percentage were measured on longissimus dorsi muscle after 2h, 2 and 6 days of storage to study their evolution. With conventional slaughter pH remained stable until the 6th day of storage, while with ritual slaughter it increased from the 2nd to 6th day of storage. Drip loss increased considerably from the 2nd to 6th day of storage in conventional slaughter, while in ritual slaughter the drip loss increase was lower. Meat colour was not influenced by the slaughtering system but only by the different lengths of storage

Oxidation and antioxidant status: effects on shelf-life of meat from Limousine cattle fed with supplements of α-tocopherol

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant status of meat from cattle fed diets supplemented with vitamin E (α-tocopherol acetate) during the finishing period and to evaluate the effect of this treatment on meat shelf-life. Twenty purebred Limousine calves reared in the same farm, were randomly selected, divided into control group (n=10) and treated group (n=10) and fed a total mixed ration: treated group received a supplementation of vitamin E (900 mg/kg of CMF) for a period of 150 days before slaughter. Meat quality was evaluated by the following analyses: pH, water holding capacity (drip loss), colour (L*, a*, b*, C*, H*), chemical forms of myoglobin, substances reactive to thiobarbituric acid (MDA) and enzymatic antioxidant activity (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutation peroxidase). Dietary vitamin E supplementation had a positive effect on water holding capacity; in the control group a considerable increase in drip loss from the 2nd to 6th day of conservation was observed (2.83% vs 7.54%), while in the treated group during the same time period this increase appeared to be much more gradual and occurred to a lesser degree (2.31% vs 4.15%). Moreover, administration of vitamin E led to greater stability of colorimetric coordinates and reduced discoloration of the longissimus dorsi muscle during conservation as indicated by the redness a* (control: 23.85 and 23.87 vs 19.34 at 2h, 2 and 6 days, respectively; treated: 24.88, 23.91 and 24.01 at 2h, 2 days and 6 days, respectively) and in the Chroma* (control: 26.89 and 26.77 vs 21.90 at 2h, 2 days and 6 days, respectively; treated: 27.67, 26.57 and 26.77 at 2h, 2 and 6 days, respectively). Superoxide dismutase activity was significantly greater in the meat from cattle treated with vitamin E compared to that observed in the meat from controls (0.204 vs 0.167). The study showed that vitamin E supplementation in the finishing diets of calves caused only slight modifications in the antioxidant status of the meat; however, it positively influenced several qualitative characteristics which appeared to be more stable over time, thus extending the shelf-life of the meat

Oxidation and antioxidant status: effects on shelf-life of meat from Limousine cattle fed with supplements of alpha-tocopherol

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant status of meat from cattle fed diets supplemented with vitamin E (α-tocopherol acetate) during the finishing period and to evaluate the effect of this treatment on meat shelf-life. Twenty purebred Limousine calves reared in the same farm, were randomly selected, divided into control group (n=10) and treated group (n=10) and fed a total mixed ration: treated group received a supplementation of vitamin E (900 mg/kg of CMF) for a period of 150 days before slaughter. Meat quality was evaluated by the following analyses: pH, water holding capacity (drip loss), colour (L*, a*, b*, C*, H*), chemical forms of myoglobin, substances reactive to thiobarbituric acid (MDA) and enzymatic antioxidant activity (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutation peroxidase). Dietary vitamin E supplementation had a positive effect on water holding capacity; in the control group a considerable increase in drip loss from the 2nd to 6th day of conservation was observed (2.83% vs 7.54%), while in the treated group during the same time period this increase appeared to be much more gradual and occurred to a lesser degree (2.31% vs 4.15%). Moreover, administration of vitamin E led to greater stability of colorimetric coordinates and reduced discoloration of the longissimus dorsi muscle during conservation as indicated by the redness a* (control: 23.85 and 23.87 vs 19.34 at 2h, 2 and 6 days, respectively; treated: 24.88, 23.91 and 24.01 at 2h, 2 days and 6 days, respectively) and in the Chroma* (control: 26.89 and 26.77 vs 21.90 at 2h, 2 days and 6 days, respectively; treated: 27.67, 26.57 and 26.77 at 2h, 2 and 6 days, respectively). Superoxide dismutase activity was significantly greater in the meat from cattle treated with vitamin E compared to that observed in the meat from controls (0.204 vs 0.167). The study showed that vitamin E supplementation in the finishing diets of calves caused only slight modifications in the antioxidant status of the meat; however, it positively influenced several qualitative characteristics which appeared to be more stable over time, thus extending the shelf-life of the meat

Genetic variability of meat quality traits in Chianina beef cattle

The heritability of quality traits (chemical composition, colour, tenderness and water-holding capacity) of the meat derivingfrom three muscles (Triceps brachii, Longissimus dorsi and Semitendinosus) was evaluated in 92 young Chianinabulls. The animals were raised on two farms with different feeding programs, and were slaughtered at approximately 19months of age. Single pair correlations were considered in order to evidence the relationships between the same traitsdetected in the three muscles and between all the traits of the same muscle.The h2 values range from 0.00 to 0.24 for the chemical composition, from 0.00 to 0.19 for colour parameters, from 0.03to 0.31 for those observed after 48 h, and from 0.00 to 0.08 for tenderness and water-holding capacity. The values werenot homogeneous for the three muscles. The most heritable trait was yellowness (b*48) in all three muscles, with valuesof 0.11 in the Longissimus dorsi, 0.23 in the Semitendinosus, and 0.31 in the Triceps brachii. Conversely, tendernessappeared to have a low heritability, as did the parameters relating to the water-holding capacity. Colour traitsobserved before and after 48 h of storage generally were significantly and positively correlated, indicating that certaincolour characteristics are maintained even after 48 h of storage. There was not always a close relationship between thetraits of each muscles: significant correlations existed between the Triceps brachii and the Longissimus dorsi muscles,confirming the similar quality traits of their meat, while there were considerable differences between these muscles andthe Semitendinosus

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) powder as dietary supplementation in rabbit: life performances, carcass characteristics and meat quality

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) powder on rabbit productive performances, meat quality and shelf-life of raw and cooked meat. Ninety hybrid rabbits of 60 days old were fed three different diets: basal diet (control, C), basal diet supplemented by 4 g of ginger powder on 100 g of feed (G4) and basal diet supplemented by 8 g of ginger powder on 100 g of feed (G8) (3.6 and 7.2 g/100 g of dry matter for G4 and G8, respectively). Live weight, average daily gain and feed intake were recorded. Ten rabbits of each group were slaughtered at 90 days of age and meat quality was assessed during seven days of storage at 4 °C. Live performance and slaughter traits did not show any significant differences. Dietary ginger powder induced modification in pH of raw samples and in colour indexes of both raw and cooked meat. Lipid oxidation of raw samples was delayed in time by ginger feed addition even if no modification was highlighted in antioxidant capacity. Ginger powder could be a potential supplementation in diet of rabbits for increasing meat shelf-life

Effect of slaughter age on meat qualitative traits of veals calves

Scopo del presente lavoro è stato quello di verificare alcune caratteristiche organolettiche e chimico bromatologhe della carne di 15 vitelli di razza Frisona. I vitelli sono stati macellati a 140, 160 e 190 giorni. I parametri analizzati non sono stati significativamente influenzati dall'età di macellazione se non per una riduzione del tenore proteico della sostanza secca a 160 giorni. Pertanto la scelta dell'età di macellazione, per il periodo studiato, può essere fatta sulla base di criteri di natura economica piuttosto che riferita ad aspetti qualitativi della carn

Carcass traits and meat quality of two different rabbit genotypes

To evaluate the effect of genotype on carcass traits and meat quality, thirty-two rabbits for two genotypes (local population – LP; commercial hybrids – HY) were used. Rabbits were weaned at 35 days old and slaughtered at 103 days of age for LP and 87 days of age for HY. Comparing the slaughtering traits of two genotypes, LP provided higher dressing out (59.4% vs 56.2%, P<0.01) and skin percentage (16.0% vs 14.2%, P<0.05), lower incidence of full gastrointestinal tract (18.5% vs 22.3, P<0.01) and higher incidence of head (9.5% vs 8,9%, P<0.05) and kidneys (0.99 vs 0.86%, P<0.05) than HY. Reference carcasses from LP had greater incidence of perirenal fat (2.04% vs 1.12%; P<0.01), loin (21.5% vs 19.2%; P<0.01) and hind leg (34.4% vs 31.6%; P<0.01) than HY. Hind leg meat-to-bone ratio was significantly higher in HY than LP (4.7% vs 3.8%; P<0.01). The comparison between the variances of slaughter weight, chilled carcass weight, kidneys percentage, reference carcass weight, perirenal fat and hind leg percentage showed the great variability in the local population. Meat derived from LP showed lower lightness (L*), higher redness (a*), yellowness (b*) and C* value than HY (P<0.01). In conclusion, LP showed good slaughter traits and favourable meat quality and the great variability observed in the local population could allow to improve the productive performances without loss the rusticity and the capacity to fit to different local environmental conditions