Indicators of pre-slaughter stress in pigs and their impact on meat quality

The pre-slaughter handling and transport of pigs can cause stress and negatively affect the quality of meat. This article aims to investigate the impact of pre-slaughter stress on meat quality. The literature suggests that pre-slaughter stress has a significant impact on meat quality, resulting in lower meat pH, increased drip loss, and decreased meat tenderness. When the body experiences stress, cortisol triggers the liver to release glucose into the bloodstream, which provides energy for the body to respond to the stressful situation. Both serum cortisol and blood glucose levels increased post-slaughter, with a post-slaughter mean value of 7.28 µg/dl for serum cortisol (compared to the initial mean value of 6.08 µg/dl), while the blood glucose values revealed a highly catabolic state, with mean post-slaughter values of 143.24 mg/dl compared to 129.11 mg/dl mean pre-slaughter results. The study highlights a direct relationship between increased serum cortisol levels and blood glucose values when comparing the pre- and post-slaughter values with the normal reference ranges, with a highly significant correlation between the mentioned parameters (p<0.01). The article also explores potential pre-slaughter indicators such as cortisol and blood glucose levels for predicting stress and meat quality in pigs. Improving pre-slaughter handling and reducing stress can lead to improved meat quality and economic benefits for the pork industry. In terms of pH24, a trust coefficient of 5.46–5.50 revealed the impact of pre-slaughter stress on meat pH, resulting in possible inferior meat in terms of quality. The study results showed a highly significant correlation between the cortisol and blood glucose values recorded post-slaughter and pH24 (p<0.05), emphasizing the impact of stress on meat quality and suggesting that both serum cortisol and blood glucose values can be used as specific indicators of meat pH and ultimately meat quality

INDICATORS OF PRE-SLAUGHTER STRESS IN PIGS AND THEIR IMPACT ON MEAT QUALITY

The pre-slaughter handling and transport of pigs can cause stress and negatively affect the quality of meat. This article aims to investigate the impact of pre-slaughter stress on meat quality. The literature suggests that pre-slaughter stress has a significant impact on meat quality, resulting in lower meat pH, increased drip loss, and decreased meat tenderness. When the body experiences stress, cortisol triggers the liver to release glucose into the bloodstream, which provides energy for the body to respond to the stressful situation. Both serum cortisol and blood glucose levels increased post-slaughter, with a post-slaughter mean value of 7.28 µg/dl for serum cortisol (compared to the initial mean value of 6.08 µg/dl), while the blood glucose values revealed a highly catabolic state, with mean post-slaughter values of 143.24 mg/dl compared to 129.11 mg/dl mean pre-slaughter results. The study highlights a direct relationship between increased serum cortisol levels and blood glucose values when comparing the pre- and post-slaughter values with the normal reference ranges, with a highly significant correlation between the mentioned parameters (p<0.01). The article also explores potential pre-slaughter indicators such as cortisol and blood glucose levels for predicting stress and meat quality in pigs. Improving pre-slaughter handling and reducing stress can lead to improved meat quality and economic benefits for the pork industry. In terms of pH24, a trust coefficient of 5.46–5.50 revealed the impact of pre-slaughter stress on meat pH, resulting in possible inferior meat in terms of quality. The study results showed a highly significant correlation between the cortisol and blood glucose values recorded post-slaughter and pH24 (p<0.05), emphasizing the impact of stress on meat quality and suggesting that both serum cortisol and blood glucose values can be used as specific indicators of meat pH and ultimately meat quality

Researches regarding the design and achievement of a fertilization machine in aggregate with a motoculture for greenhouses and solariums

The experiments were focused on the design and execution of the equipment for the administration of solid chemical fertilizers within the disciplines of Mechanization of the Ion Ionescu de la Brad University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Iasi. The determination of uniformity administration of solid chemical fertilizers was achieved using the gravitational method. Experience have shown that the equipment satisfies the qualitative requirements and qualities of fertilizer uniformity using a high precision method for determining the distribution of the fertilizer

Researches regarding the optimization of the opperating process of wheat debranning for grinding

Debranning is an operation which removes parts or the entire outer layer of wheat seeds, resulting in the removal of dust particles adhering to the surface of the grain and it also clears the wheat kernels hair. The debranning operation of cereals has a large influence on the grinding work process, on the content of minerals of the flour, on germs separation and broken kernels content; for these reasons the purpose of this paper is to optimize the constructive and functional parameters of the wheat debranning installation, namely to maximize the technological work process. In order to achieve the objective of this paper, a test rig was designed and built in order to study and optimize the operating process for wheat kernels debranning; the technological line consists of: horizontal debranning machine with frusto active bodies made of Eureka type braided wire and an aspiration system. In order to study the influence of debranning operation on the quality indices of wheat seeds, several structural and functional parameters of the machine were varied and the variations of the following indices were observed: broken kernels content, ash content and the amount of peeled coating. As a result of the laboratory investigations it was found that the percentage of broken grains, the ash content and the amount of peeled coating varies with the rotor speed and the distance between the two frusto jackets. The percentage of broken grains is directly proportional to the inner jacket speed and inversely proportional to the distance between the two conical drums made of braided wire. The experimental tests showed that the percentage of ash was affected by the rotor speed and the distance between the two drums of the debranning machine. Corroborating the results regarding the content of broken grains, percentage of ash and the amount of peeledcoating led us to the conclusion that the optimum operating regime of the machine was obtained when the distance between the tapered drums was d = 10 mm, the rotor speed was 150 rev/min and 250 rev/min respectively

Influence of the wetting process in the conventional system on the qualitative indices of wheat for milling

The wheat conditioning determines a series of transformations of the mechano-structural and biochemical properties of the grains. Proper wetting of the wheat grain on the outside succeeds in the peeling process in removing the upper layers of its coating without water entering the endosperm, so that in the end high quality flours will be obtained. In this study, two influencing factors were followed: the temperature in the grain mass and the rest time of grains after wetting, finally obtaining a multifactorial experience with 72 experimental variants. The experiments, performed in the present paper, revealed a close connection between the rest time of grains and their humidity after the hydrothermal treatment. Also, the three temperature ranges (10°C - 15°C, 15°C - 20°C and 20°C - 25°C) of the cereal mass for which the study was performed, had a direct influence on the water speed penetration from the outside of the grains to the inside. By establishing individually, the optimal conditioning recipe for each batch of wheat with different characteristics, the wetting period is significantly reduced in the technological process of preparing wheat grains for milling

Studies regarding energy consumption variation and drying time for corn seed in laboratory conditions

The drying process for grain seeds ensures optimal conditions for storage and stops microbiological processes. In order to improve the drying process of corn seeds an was installation designed and built, aiming for the dehydration of cereal seeds in laboratory conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal operating parameters of the drying process in order to maximize the technological effect, namely to minimize the drying time and the energy consumption. To achieve this goal, corn seeds with humidities between 16-25% were subjected successively to be dried, in three adjoining cells with 50 mm thickness each. During the research the structural and functional parameters for the dehydration rig were modified, namely the velocity and temperature of the drying agent, until the corn moisture reached 14%, aiming to assess their influence over the duration and energy consumption per product unit. The experimental research displayed variations between 0.006 and 0.03 kWh/kg for energy consumption, and between 2 and 150 minutes for the drying time. A total number of 80 experimental variants were studied during the research, the lowest values of the drying time being recorded at a speed of the drying agent of 2.5 m/s with a temperature of 80 °C and the minimum values of energy consumption at the speed of 2 m/s with a temperature of 80 oC. The research proved that the functional and technical parameters have a major influence over the process duration and energy consumption

Researchers on the operating behavior of direct seed drills and their influence on work quality indices

The technology of direct sowing in stubble involves the direct introduction of seeds into the soil without prior preparation of the germinal bed.The sowing machines are built in such a way that they allow the opening of small holes in the sowing direction in which the seeds are inserted. That's why, for the success of various conservative practices, but especially of direct sowing, the farmer must take into account the method of managing the stubble on the surface, the plant residues of the preceding crop, through a good work of shredding and uniform spreading on the surface during summer - early autumn. The elimination of plant residues by burning is excluded, according to the Code of Good Farm Practices, made by the Research Institute for Pedology and Agrochemistry in Bucharest

Performance assessments and the effect on barley seed quality regarding a new developed grain dryer

Convective dryers are widely used in various fields, such as for drying pasta, fruit, vegetables, agricultural plant seeds etc. Several variants of dryers have been designed so far, such as: dryers with intermediate heating of the drying agent, dryers with partial recirculation of the drying agent, closed circuit dryers and those ones with combined technical solutions. None of the above solves the problem regarding the drying agent flow uniformity. In the case of existing world-wide tower dryers, drying is more intense towards the end of the drying agent mixing chamber. To overcome this shortcoming, an innovative cylindrical tower dryer was conceived, which evens the drying agent parameters. The dryer contains a conical device mounted inside the perforated cylinder above the burner. This device is based on the Coandă effect according to which, a fluid jet has the tendency to stay attached to a convex surface. The device has been designed after Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations (CFD), after which optimum setting adjustments have been made to achieve uniformity of the speed and temperature profiles across the entire interior surface of the perforated cylinder, regardless the porosity of the seed layer. Experiments were conducted using barley seeds with three initial moisture contents, five air temperatures (40oC to 80oC) and four fan speeds (1 m/s to 2.5 m/s). The obtained results showed a reduction of protein loss of up to 1.77%, a reduction of germination capacity loss of up to 9.87%, a decrease of the energy consumption of up to 10-15% and a decrease of the drying time of up to 20%, compared to the results obtained with a conventional tower dryer. The advantages of using the new developed dryer are: drying process uniformity, energy consumption and drying time reduction, seed quality improvement, construction cost reduction and material economy