The essence of weaning age and its significance on performance, mortality, carcass and meat quality properties in rabbits

The study verified the influence of different nutritional levels of the dams, before parturition, the weaning age of the lambs and the finishing system on lamb muscle fiber morphology and meat quality. Ile-de-France × Bergamacia crossbred dams grazing on natural grassland were divided into two groups: 1) nutritional supplement 30 days before the parturition (SUPL), and 2) no nutritional supplement (NS). These groups were further subdivided by weaning age of the lambs, which corresponded to either 45 or 60 days. The weaned lambs from each of the previous groups were also divided into different finishing systems: confined and fed a complete diet (CD), confined and fed hay (H) and kept on grassland (P). The lambs were slaughtered at 30 kg live weight (CD and P), or at 150 days of age (H). The carcasses were cooled at 4ºC/24h. The analyzed variables were: longissimus dorsi muscle fiber morphophysiology, post mortem myofibrillar fragmentation (at 0, 3 and 7 days post mortem), meat pH and temperature. There was no effect of supplementation of dams or weaning age of the lambs for the evaluated variables. The frequency of slow-oxidative (SO), fast-oxidative-glycolytic (FOG) and fast-glycolytic (FG) muscle fiber types was not altered by the treatments, but the fiber cross-sectional area was smaller for the lambs finished only on hay, and the meat pH values and temperature were lower and the myofibrill fragment dimensions were smaller. As time maturation increased from 0 to 3 and 7 days post mortem, there was a decrease in the length of the myofibrill fragments. The diet of the lambs which were maintained confined and fed only with hay was nutritionally inferior when compared with all the others, and this changed the quality of the meat compared to the finishing systems on grassland or confined and fed complete diet.

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Relationship between muscle fiber characteristics and meat quality parameters in Turkish native goat breeds

Indian Journal of Animal Research ◽

10.18805/ijar.b-1004 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Emre Sirin

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Muscle Fiber ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Muscle Fiber Types ◽

Type I ◽

Fiber Types ◽

Fiber Number ◽

Weaning Age ◽

Positive Correlations

This study was conducted to determine muscle fiber characteristics and their effect on some meat quality parameters in Longissimus dorsi (LD) and Semitendinosus (ST) muscles from kids of some Turkish native goat breeds. Male kids of Hair (n=6), Angora (n=6), Kilis (n=6) and Honamli (n=6) (pure breeds) were used as experimental animals. All kids were slaughtered at 3 months of weaning age and muscles samples were collected for determination of type I, IIA and IIB muscle fibers and some meat quality parameters. It was found that type IIA fiber number of Hair and Honamli kids were higher than those of other breeds in LD muscle. Similarly, Hair kids had higher number of (P less than 0.05) type IIA in ST muscle compared to other breeds. Generally, there were negative correlations between tenderness, pH and number of muscle fiber types in LD and ST muscles of all breeds (P less than0.05). Also, there were positive correlations between intra muscular fat and number of muscle fiber types in LD muscles of all breeds (P less than 0.05). Conclusively, kids of Turkish native goat breeds had different muscle fiber characteristics which can affect meat quality.

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Assessment of meat quality properties and development of a palatability prediction model for Korean Hanwoo steer beef

Meat Science ◽

10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.05.011 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 86 (1) ◽

pp. 236-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

S.H. Cho ◽

J. Kim ◽

B.Y. Park ◽

P.N. Seong ◽

G.H. Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prediction Model ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Quality Properties

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Effect of Weaning Age and Sex on Meat Quality Traits of Pigs Raised under Intensive System and Slaughtered at 70 Kg Body Weight

Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences ◽

10.14737/journal.aavs/2014/2.6.359.364 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. 359-364

Author(s):

Batlhalefi Ganelang

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Weaning Age ◽

Age And Sex ◽

Intensive System

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511 Late-Breaking: Dietary Glycine Supplementation During Growing and Finishing Phases Increases Body Weight and Improves Meat Quality of Intrauterine Growth Restricted Pigs

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skab235.378 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 99 (Supplement_3) ◽

pp. 208-209

Author(s):

Erin A Posey ◽

Wenliang He ◽

Chandler C Steele ◽

Jeffrey W Savell ◽

Guoyao Wu

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Corn Starch ◽

Subcutaneous Fat ◽

Maximum Growth ◽

Growing Pigs ◽

Intrauterine Growth ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Multiple Comparison Test ◽

Weaning Age ◽

Pig Carcasses

Abstract Glycine is required for maximum growth and development for growing pigs. Traditional swine diets are deficient in glycine. This is concerning for intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) pigs (20–25% of all pigs born) as they are born with low bodyweights and underdeveloped skeletomuscular systems. Therefore, IUGR piglets are culled at birth, as they are unlikely to survive and unable to reach market weight at the same rate as normal birthweight (NBW) littermates. Additionally, IUGR pigs are not fed to market weight due to undesirable carcass attributes at slaughter such as increased subcutaneous fat deposition and decreased overall desirable protein yield. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that providing dietary glycine supplementation in traditional corn- and-soybean meal-based diets would improve the growth rate of IUGR pigs between weaning (age 21d) and market weight (age 188d). Fourteen IUGR pigs (birthweight = 0.98±0.03 kg, mean ± SEM) and 20 NBW pigs (birthweight = 1.44±0.02 kg, mean ± SEM) were obtained at weaning and used for this study. Pigs from each birthweight group were randomly assigned to 1% glycine + 0.19% corn starch treatment group or 1.19% alanine group (isonitrogenous control). Data were analyzed by using 2-way ANOVA and Duncan multiple comparison test. At 188 d of age, glycine supplemented IUGR pigs were 4.4 kg heavier (P < 0.05) than control IUGR pigs, and had similar (P >0.05) body weights to those NBW counterparts. Feed intake did not differ among the treatment groups (P >0.05). Additionally, glycine supplementation improved markers of meat quality in IUGR pig carcasses compared to control IUGR carcasses, including decreased backfat thickness, increased loineye area, and increased overall muscle score (P < 0.05). Overall, results of this study show that dietary glycine supplementation to IUGR pigs post-weaning has positive effects on lean tissue gain and meat quality. (Supported by USDA-NIFA)

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Effects of maternal parity on the pork quality traits of progeny

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an16829 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 58 (11) ◽

pp. 2109

Author(s):

Jun-Mo Kim ◽

Dong-Geun Kang ◽

Sang-Hoon Lee ◽

Kyung-Bo Ko ◽

Youn-Chul Ryu

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Principal Component ◽

Muscle Fibres ◽

Pork Quality ◽

Quality Traits ◽

Quality Properties ◽

Muscle Ph ◽

Maternal Parity ◽

Stage 1

This study aimed to identify the influence of sow parity on the meat quality of progeny. A total of 656 progeny from 196 sows were categorised into three different groups based on parity: stage 1 (gilt), 2 (second to fourth parities), and 3 (over fifth parity). According to the significant differences between the parity stage groups in the multiple meat quality properties (P < 0.05), the parity stage 1 had higher muscle pH and lower drip loss in meat quality traits and showed smaller area composition of type IIb muscle fibres in muscle fibre characteristics than the other older groups. Moreover, the parity stage 1 group had significantly higher springiness, adhesiveness and chewiness (P < 0.001), whereas the stage 3 group showed relatively lower cohesiveness (P < 0.05) in the meat texture properties. The principal component analysis displayed more distance between stage 1 and other two groups than the distance between stage 2 and 3. Therefore, we suggest that maternal parity may affect pork quality in progeny and the younger stage group could have better meat quality than the older group.

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