Adaptive and Productive Sheep Breed for Changing Climate

Sheep in semi-arid environments are likely to be affected by warming environment due to climate change. To identify genotypes best suited to warmer climates we assessed thermotolerance and meat quality of 5 female sheep of each of 4 breeds (Merino, Wiltshire, Dorper, and Southdown) under simulated summer conditions. The sheep were housed in metabolic crates within climate-controlled rooms and were exposed to thermo-neutral (TN; 18–21 °C and 40–50% relative humidity) or cyclic heat stress (HS; 28–40 °C and 30–40% RH) conditions for two weeks. Physiological responses were recorded 3 times daily, and brown fat tissue temperature was measured by data loggers inserted into the brisket. Sheep were slaughtered at an abattoir as per standard commercial procedure and samples obtained for carcass and meat quality attributes. When exposed to HS, Dorpers and Merinos exhibited lower respiration rate (151, 142 breaths/min, respectively) and rectal temperature (39.39, 39.32 °C, respectively) (P < 0.05) than Southdowns (192 breaths/min, 40.05 °C) and Wiltshires (200 breaths/min, 39.91 °C). Dorper and Wiltshire (n = 3) showed lowest sternal fat temperatures during HS indicating inherent differences in thermogenesis. HS had significant effect (P < 0.05) on post mortem muscle pH decline which was slower than TN sheep, except in Dorper again indicating better thermotolerance. There were significant (P = 0.03) breed effects on meat cooking loss % such that Southdown showed minimum cooking loss (17%) while Merino showed the greatest loss (24%). These results suggest that there are genetic (breed) differences in thermotolerance and meat quality of sheep, providing an opportunity to select best sheep suited to a warming climate.

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Desirable effects of dietary 4-O-methyl-glucuronoarabinoxylan from the Echinacea plant on growth performance, thigh meat quality and development of small intestine in female Partridge-Shank broilers

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an18416 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 288

Author(s):

Qing-Chang Ren ◽

Jing-Jing Xuan ◽

Chuan-Yan Che ◽

Xin-Chao Yan ◽

Zhong-Ze Hu

Keyword(s):

Small Intestine ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Dietary Supplementation ◽

Bodyweight Gain ◽

Lower Percentage ◽

Feed Ratio ◽

Muscle Ph ◽

Access To Water

In this trial we aimed to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of 4-O-methyl-glucuronoarabinoxylan (4OMG) on growth performance, thigh meat quality and small intestine development of female Partridge-Shank broilers. A total of 240 1-day-old female Partridge-Shank broilers were randomly distributed to four groups with three replicates of 20 within each group. Groups received either 0, 15, 20 or 25 g 4OMG/kg DM of diet. During the whole experiment of 60 days, broilers had ad libitum access to water and feed. At pen level, feed intake was recorded daily and broilers were weighed at the start and end of the experiment. For each group, three pens with a total of 20 broilers were randomly selected to determine the thigh meat quality and the small intestine development of broilers. Broilers fed diets with higher 4OMG had greater final liveweight (P = 0.004), daily bodyweight gain (P = 0.004) and gain-to-feed ratio (P < 0.001), muscle pH values (P = 0.031) and redness (P = 0.001), duodenal weight index (P = 0.042), jejunal (P = 0.043) and ileal length (P = 0.049), duodenal (P < 0.001) and ileal villus height (P = 0.008), but lower percentage of dead birds (P < 0.001), drip loss (P = 0.042) and shear force value (P = 0.043) of the thigh muscles. These results indicate that increasing dietary supplementation of 4OMG may improve growth performance and meat quality of female Partridge-Shank broilers through better development of small intestine.

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Physico-Chemical Characteristics and Microbiological Quality of Broiler Chicken Pectoralis Major Muscle Subjected to Different Storage Temperature and Duration

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods9060741 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 741

Author(s):

Muhamad Faris Ab Aziz ◽

Muhammad Nizam Hayat ◽

Ubedullah Kaka ◽

Nitty Hirawaty Kamarulzaman ◽

Awis Qurni Sazili

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Broiler Chicken ◽

Storage Temperature ◽

Pectoralis Major Muscle ◽

Microbiological Quality ◽

Pectoralis Major ◽

Cooking Loss ◽

Storage Duration ◽

Physico Chemical

Storage temperature and duration plays an important role in meat processing. Observations in poultry processing plants have shown a serious deviation in storage condition compared to the recommended procedures. Furthermore, there is still a paucity of evidence on the effects of storage temperature and duration on meat quality and microbial population. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different temperature and duration during storage on physico-chemical properties and microbiological quality of broiler chicken Pectoralis major muscle. Eighty birds were slaughtered and processed, following which the packed boneless breast (PBB) (each bird was to provide two breast muscle samples; left breast and right breast) was divided into four groups, each consisted of 40 PBB. Each group was subsequently assigned to storage either at 4 °C, −10 °C, −18 °C or −40 °C, for 24 h before 20 PBB samples from each group were transported to the respective laboratory for meat quality and microbiological analysis. The remaining 20 PBB from each storage temperature were stored for 72 h before being transported for analysis. Results have shown significant increases in drip loss and cooking loss as the storage temperature decreases. Similarly, storage duration significantly affected cooking loss, of which, samples stored for 72 h exhibited higher cooking loss compared to those stored for 24 h. For color, significant differences were only observed in lightness (L*) and redness (a*) values. Longer duration of storage had significantly improved tenderness whereby, samples that have been stored for a shorter duration presented higher pH values. Populations of coliform and Salmonella decreased significantly with decreasing temperature and increasing storage duration.

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Hierarchical clustering as a tool to develop a classification scheme for rabbit meat quality

World Rabbit Science ◽

10.4995/wrs.2021.14368 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 129

Author(s):

A. -S. Larivière-Lajoie ◽

Dancy Cinq-Mars ◽

Frederic Guay ◽

Simon Binggeli ◽

Antoni Dalmau ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Value Chain ◽

Lactate Concentration ◽

Blood Lactate Concentration ◽

Hierarchical Cluster ◽

Biceps Femoris ◽

Cooking Loss ◽

Time Class ◽

Rabbit Meat

This study aimed to characterise the quality of meat from commercially-raised rabbits. Animals came from five different producers and were laughtered in three different plants under provincial or federal inspection jurisdiction. Animal behaviour evaluated by scan sampling prior to feed withdrawal (FW) and transport, as well as blood lactate concentration at exsanguination, did not raise concerns with respect to stress. Stomach pH was higher (P=0.047) when the FW time was short (≤13.5 h), at a mean value of 2.23. All pH values measured 1 h post-mortem from the Biceps femoris (BF) and almost all (97.6%) from the Longissimus lumborum (LL) were higher than 6. Values for ultimate pH measured 24 h postmortem(pHu) ranged from 5.80 to 6.83 and from 5.70 to 6.70 for BF and LL muscles, respectively. The maximum meat drip loss recorded was 2.6%, while cooking loss reached 30%. Meat lightness (L*) and colour intensity (C*) for the long FW times (≥23 h) were no different from those with short and intermediate (15.5 to 17.3 h) FW times. However, these colour parameters were higher for the short FW time class compared to the intermediate FW time class (P<0.02). A hierarchical cluster analysis based on pHu, cooking loss and lightness (L*) from 200 rabbit loins was performed. Of the four clusters created, clusters 1 and 2 had the best and second-best meat quality, respectively. Clusters 3 and 4 had the lowest meat quality and presented DFD-like (dark, firm and dry) characteristics. Meat did not exhibit PSE-like (pale, soft, exudative) characteristics, even for the slaughter lot with the minimum mean pHu. Of the eight slaughter lots evaluated, more than 50% of the meat from three of them fell into clusters 3 and 4; all three were in the intermediate FW time class. Overall, the quality of rabbit meat analysed was acceptable for commercial use, but rather variable. This suggests that there are factors within the value chain that are not yet fully controlled and require further investigation.

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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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Effects of constant and cyclic heat stress on muscle metabolism and meat quality of broiler breast fillet and thigh meat

Poultry Science ◽

10.3382/ps.2012-02255 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 91 (11) ◽

pp. 2931-2937 ◽

Cited By ~ 129

Author(s):

Z.Y. Zhang ◽

G.Q. Jia ◽

J.J. Zuo ◽

Y. Zhang ◽

J. Lei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Muscle Metabolism ◽

Cyclic Heat ◽

Broiler Breast

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Influence of electrical stimulation on carcass and meat quality of Kosher and conventionally slaughtered cattle

South African Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4314/sajas.v44i5.12 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 44 (5) ◽

pp. 58-63

Author(s):

B Agbeniga ◽

EC Webb

Keyword(s):

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Shear Force ◽

Quality Attributes ◽

Cooking Loss ◽

Temperature Profiles ◽

Group 12 ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Water Holding

In a previous study regarding the effects of Kosher and conventional slaughter techniques on carcass and meat quality of cattle, it was speculated that electrical stimulation may have affected some of the meat qualities. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of electrical stimulation (ES) and non-electrical stimulation (NES) on key carcass and meat quality attributes of cattle slaughtered by Kosher vs. conventional slaughter methods. Carcass pH and temperature profiles over a 24 h post mortem (pm) period, meat shear force and water holding capacity were investigated in feedlot type cattle of comparable weights and breed types. Results showed that the combined effects of slaughter methods did not influence the meat quality attributes, but there were differences within the slaughter groups. The effect of ES on carcass pH lasted longer within the conventionally slaughtered group (12 h), than in the Kosher slaughter group (6 h). Muscle samples from the ES groups for both slaughter methods were more tender. Electrical stimulation also had a significant effect on the cooking loss from Kosher meat, while there was no significant difference in meat from the conventional slaughter methods. The results show that ES influences certain meat and carcass quality attributes of cattle, based on the way cattle were slaughtered.Keywords: Carcass pH, cooking loss, drip loss, electrical stimulation, shear force, slaughter technique

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Meat quality of lambs supplemented with intramuscular vitamin E

Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira ◽

10.1590/1678-5150-pvb-5128 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 679-684

Author(s):

Aline A. Morgado ◽

Giovanna R. Nunes ◽

Beatriz R. Villas Bôas ◽

Paola B.J. Carvalho ◽

Paulo H.M. Rodrigues ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acid ◽

Vitamin E ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Live Weight ◽

Thiobarbituric Acid ◽

Alpha Tocopherol ◽

Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances ◽

Muscle Ph ◽

Four Blocks

ABSTRACT: This study evaluated the effects of intramuscular alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) supplementation on meat quality characteristics of Santa Inês and Dorper crossbreed lambs. All animals were feed with a high concentrated diet in feedlot. Eight days before slaughter, the animals were distributed into four blocks according to weight gain. At the seventh and fourth days before slaughter, they were intramuscularly treated with 0, 10 or 20 IU of DL-alpha-tocopherol per kg of metabolic body weight. At slaughter they had 138 days of age and 43.6 kg of live weight, in average. Carcasses were stored for 24 hours under refrigeration at 2°C. Longissimus thoracis muscle pH (pH24h) and color (lightness, yellowness and redness) were analyzed and its samples were collected for evaluation of shear force (SF), cooking loss (WLC), fatty acid composition (FA) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances after one (TBARS1m) and after five months (TBARS5m) of freezing. Linearity deviation effect was observed for lightness (L*; P=0.0042) and yellowness (b*; P=0.0082). Intramuscular administration of 10 or 20 IU of alpha-tocopherol/kg of metabolic weight did not influence the conservation of fatty acid in the carcasses, but benefit L* and b* values.

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The Potential Use of Layer Litter in Awassi Lamb Diet: Its Effects on Carcass Characteristics and Meat Quality

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani9100782 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 782

Author(s):

Belal Obeidat ◽

Mohammad Mayyas ◽

Abdullah Abdullah ◽

Mofleh Awawdeh ◽

Rasha Qudsieh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Randomized Study ◽

Subcutaneous Fat ◽

Fat Content ◽

Cooking Loss ◽

Muscle Weight ◽

Carcass Parameters ◽

Intermuscular Fat ◽

Water Holding

Carcass parameters and meat quality in lambs that consumed diets having layer hen litter (LL) were evaluated in a complete randomized study. Forty-two lambs were allocated equally (14 lambs/treatment diet) into one of three iso-nitrogenous diets for 75 days. To partially replace soybean meal and barley, LL was given at 0 (LL0), 150 (LL150), or 300 g/kg (LL300) of dietary dry matter (DM). At the termination of the trial, the characteristics of carcasses (hot and cold carcass weight, dressing percentage, and carcass cuts) and meat quality (Musculus longissimus linear dimensions, ultimate pH, cooking loss, water holding capacity (WHC), shear force (SF), color coordinates) were measured after slaughtering all lambs. Longissimus muscle weight was greatest (p < 0.05) for the LL150. For the dissected loin, intermuscular fat content was lowest for the LL0 diet. However, subcutaneous fat content was lower (p < 0.05) in the LL300 diet than LL0 and LL150 diets. Rib fat depth and Musculus longissimus area were greater (p < 0.05) for LL150 than L0. No differences were found in meat pH or color parameters among treatments but WHC and SF were lower in L0 lambs than in lambs fed LL containing diets. Cooking loss was greater for the LL300 diet than the LL0 diet. In summary, quality of meat and carcasses data indicate the possibility of inclusion of LL up to 300 g/kg DM to growing Awassi lambs.

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Effect of heat stress on blood parameter, carcass and meat quality of Black Bengal goat

Bangladesh Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.3329/bjas.v42i1.15783 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 57-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

MA Hashem ◽

MM Hossain ◽

MS Rana ◽

MM Hossain ◽

MS Islam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Meat Quality ◽

Heat Exposure ◽

Cooking Loss ◽

Blood Parameter ◽

Goat Meat ◽

Heat Treated ◽

Humidity Index ◽

Black Bengal Goat

The research was conducted to study the effect of heat stress on blood parameter, carcass characteristics and meat quality of the Black Bengal goat. Nine goats were randomly and equally divided into three groups having almost same age and weight. Three groups were divided as zero hour (T0), four hours (T4) and eight hours (T8) of heat exposure. The T0 group were not exposed to heat stress, the T4 and T8 group were exposed to heat by keeping them at outside for 4 (four) hours and 8 (eight) hours from 9.00 AM to 1.00 PM and from 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM, respectively. Temperaturehumidity index (THI) was calculated as 26.88 indicating all the experimental animals were in extreme severe heat stress. The blood parameter such as RBC, PCV%, Hb%, WBC was significantly (p<0.01) higher in T8 group than those of T4 and T0 groups. There was also significant (p<0.05) effect of heat stress on pH of the meat from different groups of the Black Bengal goats. By-products e.g., blood, pluck, spleen and kidney, and cooking loss were significantly (p<0.01) increased with the increase of the heat, but no significant differences were observed for pre-slaughter parameters, carcass weight, drip loss, dressing percentage, and proximate composition of the goat meat for DM, CP and Ash, while the EE significantly (p<0.05) differed among the heat treated groups. Heat stress significantly affected the blood parameter, cooking loss, pH, by-product of goats rather than non heat stressed group. It indicates that heat stress limits the qualitative and quantitative production characteristics of goat meat. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v42i1.15783 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2013. 42 (1): 57-61

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The effect of some pre-slaughter factors on meat quality of bulls slaughtered in a commercial abattoir in Turkey

Indian Journal of Animal Research ◽

10.18805/ijar.v0iof.4563 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Serhat Karaca ◽

Erol Arik

Keyword(s):

Meat Quality ◽

Cooking Loss ◽

Quality Traits ◽

B Values ◽

Average Percentage ◽

Brown Swiss ◽

Meat Quality Traits ◽

Transport Distance ◽

Water Holding

One-hundred and eighteen bulls slaughtered at Van city abattoir were evaluated to determine the effects of some pre-slaughter factors on meat quality traits. The effect of breed on meat quality traits was limited except for water holding capacity (WHC) and Brown Swiss cross bulls had higher WHC than Simmental cross bulls. Bulls aged 30 months and older had higher pH24h (6.05 vs. 5.76; p less than 0.001) and lower L* and b* values than younger bulls. Bulls that were transported from 300 km away had significantly higher pH24h (6.10 vs. 5.71; p less than 0.01) and lower L*, a*, b*, cooking loss, and WBSF than bulls with £125 km transport distance (p less than 0.05-p less than 0.01). Bulls that waited unrestrained in lots had higher pH24h and lower L*, b* and WBSF (7.06 vs. 5.31; p less than 0.01) values than those that were restrained while waiting in abattoir. Effects of age, lairage and waiting type on dark cutting incidence were also significant and average percentage of dark cutting was 24.78% (pH24h ³ 6.2). As a result, it was determined that the percentage of DFD carcasses was high and dark cutting was serious problem.

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