Effect of Pre-Slaughter Practises and Early Post-Mortem Interventions on Sheep Meat Tenderness and Its Impact on Microbial Status

Tenderness, together with flavour, is the main quality trait that defines consumer acceptance of sheep meat. The factors affecting tenderness can be grouped as those influenced before slaughter, in the early post-mortem intervention and, finally, during the aging period. These factors have been extensively studied with respect to tenderness, but the impact of early post-mortem interventions and subsequent aging on the microbial quality of the final products has not been broadly reviewed to date. In this review, the authors summarize the most recent knowledge on lamb meat tenderness management and how such practices may impact the final meat quality, especially its microbial status. The impacts of pre-slaughter factors (age, sex, diet, genotype and transport) and post-mortem interventions (chilling regime, electrical stimulation, or hanging method), are described and comprehensively discussed.

Retail Packaging Affects Colour, Water Holding Capacity, Texture and Oxidation of Sheep Meat more than Breed and Finishing Feed

This study investigated the CIELab colour, water holding capacity, texture and oxidative stability of sheep meat from different breeds, finishing feeds, and retail packaging methods. Leg primal cuts from a subset of Composite wether lambs (n = 21) and Merino wether yearlings (n = 21) finished on a standard diet containing grain and cereal hay, a standard diet with camelina forage, or a standard diet with camelina meal, were used in this study. Semimembranosus and Vastus lateralis were packaged in vacuum skin packaging (VSP), or modified atmosphere packaging with 80% O2 and 20% CO2 (HioxMAP), or with 50% O2, 30% N2, and 20% CO2 (TrigasMAP). Packaging had a greater effect (p < 0.001) on L*, a*, b*, hue, and chroma than the effects from breed and finishing feed. Purge loss was affected by packaging. Cooking loss was affected by breed for Semimembranosus and packaging for both muscle types. HioxMAP and TrigasMAP increased WBSF and Texture Profile Analysis hardness of the meat compared to VSP. Lipid oxidation, assessed by TBARS, were lower in camelina forage or camelina meal supplemented diets and TrigasMAP compared to standard diet and HioxMAP, respectively. Total carbonyl and free thiol content were lower in VSP. Thus, supplementing feed with camelina forage or meal and lowering oxygen content in retail packaging by TrigasMAP or VSP are recommended to ensure optimal sheep meat quality.

VETERINARY AND SANITARY EXAMINATION OF SHEEP MEAT AND THE CONTENT OF HEAVY METALS IN IT WHEN USING A MODERN FEED ADDITIVE

The purpose of the study was to conduct a veterinary and sanitary assessment of sheep meat and to study the quantitative analysis of the content of heavy metals in animal meat. To do this, experiments were conducted in LLC "SHP Lukoz" of the Sernursky district of the RME on sheep. Experienced yarkas received an experimental feed additive UVMC "VITA-Balance" for 45 days. By the end of the experiment, the animals were slaughtered. The results of the study found that the sheep meat when using a modern feed additive meets the requirements of GOST 7269-2015. The data obtained indicate that no excess of the maximum permissible concentration of heavy metals was detected in sheep meat when using an experimental feed additive.

Efficiency Analysis as a Tool for Revealing Best Practices and Innovations: The Case of the Sheep Meat Sector in Europe

The slow adoption of innovations is a key challenge that the European sheep sector faces for its sustainability. The future of the sector lies on the adoption of best practices, modern technologies and innovations that can improve its resilience and mitigate its dependence on public support. In this study, the concept of technical efficiency was used to reveal the most efficient sheep meat farms and to identify the best practices and farm innovations that could potentially be adopted by other farms of similar production systems. Data Envelopment Analysis was applied to farm accounting data from 458 sheep meat farms of intensive, semi-intensive and extensive systems from France, Spain and the UK, and the structural and economic characteristics of the most efficient farms were analyzed. These best farmers were indicated through a survey, which was conducted within the Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in the Europe (iSAGE) Horizon 2020 project, the management and production practices and innovations that improve their economic performance and make them better than their peers.

Detection of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 in Imported Meat Products from Saudi Arabian Ports in 2017

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogen, which causes various health conditions in humans, including fatigue, nausea, and bloody diarrhoea, and in some cases, even death. In 2017, 15.71% of the total imported food products in Saudi Arabia were meat-based. India and Brazil are two of the top five countries from where Saudi Arabia imports meat. According to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, in 2017, at least 562, 280, and 50 samples of imported beef, chicken, and sheep meat, respectively, were tested for the presence of E. coli O157:H7. Amongst these, E. coli O157:H7 was detected in respectively 6.5% and 2.2% of the tested beef meat samples imported from India and Brazil as well as in respectively 6.96% and 3.57% of the tested chicken samples imported from Brazil and Ukraine. Moreover, the pathogen was detected in 2.1% of the tested sheep meat samples imported from India. The present report provides evidence that imported meat can serve as the carrier of E. coli O157:H7, leading to epidemics, within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Produção e qualidade da carne ovina no trópico úmido / Sheep meat production and quality in the humid tropics

Foi realizado um experimento com 100 cordeiros dos cruzamentos Katahdin, Pelibuey, Dorper e Blackbelly, distribuídos em cinco tratamentos: T1) Pastoreio, T2) T1 + Ração comercial (AC), T3) T1 + Dieta 1, T4) T1 + Dieta 2, T5) T1 + Dieta 3. No primeiro mês, AC, D3 e D1 registraram as maiores ingestões (P 0,05), em comparação ao tratamento D2. Durante o segundo mês, o tratamento com alimento comercial (AC) foi o mais consumido (P 0,05) em comparação com o D2. No último mês de avaliação, quase todos os tratamentos foram estatisticamente iguais, com exceção do tratamento D2, que apresentou o menor consumo (P 0,05), e em geral o mesmo comportamento foi observado ao longo do experimento. Em relação à digestibilidade da matéria seca, o tratamento CA foi o que apresentou melhor digestibilidade (P 0,05). Em relação ao ganho de peso, observou-se que, no primeiro mês de avaliação, os cordeiros que receberam o tratamento AC apresentaram o maior (P 0,05) ganho de peso, seguidos dos tratamentos D1 e D3; o menor (P 0,05) ganho foi observado no tratamento somente pastejo e D2. No segundo mês, a contribuição da CA superou (P 0,05) o ganho de peso dos demais tratamentos. No terceiro mês, os cordeiros do tratamento AC apresentaram os maiores ganhos de peso, sendo estatisticamente semelhantes (P 0,05) ao ganho de peso observado no tratamento D3. Quanto à digestibilidade in situ e à taxa de digestão da matéria seca (MS), observou-se baixa resposta (P 0,05) à degradabilidade ruminal do capim-estrela africana em cada época de avaliação, em relação aos demais tratamentos. Conclui-se que D1 e D3 favoreceram o melhor desempenho produtivo dos cordeiros e, consequentemente, o menor ganho de peso.