No abstract

The study was conducted to assess the effect of roughage source on meat quality and sensory attributes of yearling Tswana cattle. The sensory traits and meat quality of yearling Tswana steers fed maize stover diet (treatment A), sorghum stover diet (treatment B) or commercial beef finisher diet (treatment Control) were evaluated and allotted feeding trial by adopting Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The commercial diet had Lucerne (Medicago sativa) as a roughage source at inclusion level of 15% in total diet dry matter. Animals were slaughtered after 24 hour fast at Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) at Lobatse and samples were collected by cutting approximately 5 kg rump steak of the left side of halved carcasses. Trained individuals were used in sensory consumer evaluation to assess flavor, tenderness, moistness, appearance and overall impression of meat using eight point hedonic scales. No significant difference between the treatment groups for meat colour attribute was found. However, the colour values are slightly lower for the treatments indicating paler colour of the meat. There was also no significant difference among treatments in tenderness (P > 0.05) although treatments A and B almost significantly differed (P = 0.067). The proximate parameters crude protein, moisture and total fat were similar in all treatments (P > 0.05). There was statistically significant difference for muscle pH between sorghum stover diet (5.5) and commercial beef finisher diet (5.0) at P < 0.05. The pH values of meat from maize stover diet and sorghum stover diet were within the normal pH range of 5.4-5.8 which is an indication of good quality product. The sensory evaluation of rump steaks from yearling Tswana steers showed that 86% of the panelists rated meat steaks highest on overall impression from maize stover diet finished animals followed by 79% rankings from sorghum stover diet finished animals while steak cuts from commercial diet were the least ranked from like moderately to like extremely. It was concluded that meat products from cereal stover diets had good meat qualities and overall acceptability as compared to commercial beef finisher diet.

The aim of this paper was to review the piggery waste management aspects in several countries of the world. Intensive livestock production produces significant quantities of waste that must be managed to protect water, air, and crop quality. The high demand of modern animal production has been influenced by the rapid growing populations as a result of rapid economic growth and increase in community living standards which is associated with the accelerated generation rate of solid waste causing a serious worldwide challenge. Piggery waste is said to be one of the most important causative agents of environmental pollution in most parts of the world. A growing pig population is unavoidable because it is a convenient source of protein to the growing human population and at the same time this means increasing piggery waste. Animal manure can provide nutrients for crops and fish production and input for biogas production, but if not managed, then this can also have a negative impact on the environment. Nevertheless, there are few countries who are considering legislation in relation to manure management.

No abstract

No abstract