Effect of Age and Breed on Carcass and Meat Quality Characteristics of Beni-Guil and Ouled-Djellal Sheep Breeds

Two hundred eight sheep, belonging to two main breeds of eastern Morocco, “Beni-Guil” and “Ouled-Djellal,” were investigated for carcass traits and meat quality. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of breed and age at slaughter on carcass traits and meat quality. The animals were slaughtered at three age classes: milk teeth, animals with two adult teeth, and adult animals. Dressing percentage, carcass measurements, compactness indices, carcass shrinkage parameter, conformation scores, fatness state, fat consistency, fat and meat colour, and pH were measured 24 hours postmortem. The results showed that the dressing percentage, carcass measurements, and compactness indices increased with slaughter age ( p < 0.001 ). Furthermore, the effect of breed was higher for Ouled-Djellal breed of carcass characteristics ( p < 0.01 ). However, no significant effect was observed for carcass shrinkage parameter. The longissimus lumborum muscle was used to determine the meat colour, which ranged from 23.89 to 21.96, while the ultimate pH ranged from 5.70 to 5.82. These results were influenced by age at slaughter ( p < 0.05 ) but not influenced by breed. Breed and age at slaughter had a significant influence on carcass traits ( p < 0.001 ). The present study provided a new insight into the effect of breed and age at slaughter on carcass and meat traits of both “Beni-Guil-PGI” and Ouled-Djellal sheep breeds.

Determination of the alterations in quality parameters and consumer preference of dry-aged beef based on different periods of ageing using a purposive incubator

The aim of this study was to evaluate beef quality traits including pH, water holding capacity, cooking loss, meat colour, and Warner-Bratzler shear force in dry-aged beef and to determine the most favorable ageing time based on beef quality parameters and consumer acceptability. In this respect, longissimus dorsi samples were obtained from Simmental bulls and stored for an ageing period up to 21-days, and thus, the beef quality evaluation was performed at 0-day, 7-day, 14-day, and 21-day of the experimental period. Results revealed that the lowest shear force value was observed in beef samples on day-14 whereas the lowest pH value was determined in samples on day 21. Moreover, water holding capacity and beef colour values were significantly differentiated based on dry-ageing (P<0.05). In sensory panel evaluation, a significant difference is found only in meat colour rating (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between ageing periods and cooking loss. The most important technical point is that increasing dry-ageing time from 14 to 21 days did not desirably affect quality traits and sensory scores. Hence, dry-ageing for 14 days seemed to be the most economically efficient application. Taken altogether, the present results suggest that the potential for use of dry-ageing should be considered as an alternative method to produce high-quality beef with respect to the optimum ageing process.

Physical quality characteristics of breast and leg meat of slow- and fast-growing broilers raised in different housing systems

This study was made to determine the effects of genotype and housing system on physical quality characteristics of breast and leg meat of broilers under experimental conditions. The 150 slow-growing and 150 fast-growing 1 d old chicks were divided into three sub-groups with indoor raised slatted plastic floor, indoor concrete floor with rice hull litter, and free-range housing systems (2 genotype groups × 3 housing systems). All birds were offered the same diet and were housed in similar conditions until they were 56 d old. At slaughter, 10 birds from each main group were selected randomly to determine the quality characteristics of the meat. In total, 60 breast meat pieces (pectoralis major muscle) and 60 legs of the chickens were used for meat quality analysis including pH, shear force, and colour characteristics such as lightness (L∗), redness (a∗), yellowness (b∗), saturation (C∗), and hue angle (h∗). The pH of breast meat was significantly affected by genotype and housing system (P<0.001 and P<0.001). There were significant genotype × housing system interactions for pH (P<0.015 and P<0.001) and shear force values (P<0.007 and P<0.012) of leg and breast meat. There were no significant effects of genotype and housing system on leg and breast meat colour properties except for effects of genotype on redness (a∗) of breast meat (p<0.005) and effects of housing on redness of leg meat colour (p<0.031). Slow-growing chickens and chickens housed in deep litter had a higher redness (darker) value of breast and leg meat colour compared to fast-growing birds and free range and slatted floor. In conclusion, it can be said that fast-growing broilers may be more appropriate for slatted plastic floor housing and slow-growing broilers may be more suitable for a free-range housing system, but further research on factors affecting meat quality would be very beneficial, especially in slow-growing broilers.

Effects of Feeding and Maturation System on Qualitative Characteristics of Buffalo Meat (Bubalus bubalis)

We aimed to evaluate the effects of post dry ageing (PDA) period on meat colour and rheological characteristics in 16 buffalo bulls fed two different diets: with (FRS) or without (CTL) rye grass. Animals were randomly divided into two feeding groups and slaughtered at 540 ± 4.7 and 533 ± 7.0 kg of live body weight, respectively, for the CTL and FRS group. After five days post-mortem ageing (T0), Semitendinosus muscle (ST) and Longissimus muscle (LD) underwent a prolonged maturation process in a controlled meat chamber for 30 days (ST) and until 60 days (LD). After 30 days (T1), significant changes (p < 0.01) in meat colour (ΔE) in both muscles of the FRS group was recorded, while no significant change was observed in CTL group. The FRS diet had a positive effect on textural properties of ST muscle compared to CTL diet, as well as hardness, chewiness and gumminess. All qualitative characteristics improved in the first period of PDA but, whereas LD showed to keep improving, extending the post-ageing period by further 30 days, the ST becomes un-processable at 60 days. In conclusion, a combined used of fresh feeding and PDA period could enhance both tenderness and colour in animal fed FSR.