Discrimination of Meat Produced by Bos taurus and Bos indicus Finished under an Intensive or Extensive System

Abstract

Meat obtained under commercial conditions shows considerable variability, mostly due to genetic background and production system. In this study, meat physicochemical properties and fatty acid profiles were analysed to investigate the feasibility of using them as tools to discriminate between meats produced by different genetic groups and finishing systems. Samples of the Longissimus thoracis were collected from 160 commercial bulls of the B. taurus (n = 75) and B. indicus (n = 85) groups, finished either on pasture (n = 46) or with grain supplementation (n = 114) and analysed by standard procedures. Data were analysed by discriminant analysis using a stepwise procedure, to select the meat characteristics that better contribute to discriminate the various groups. Our results indicate that fatty acid profiles of meat had better discriminating ability than physicochemical properties, especially to identify meat from animals finished on grain or pasture. The overall discrimination of meat from different genetic groups was achieved with a slightly lower reliability. Nonetheless, our results show that reliability of allocation to genetic group can be improved if prior information on finishing system is considered. These results are of high importance because they can be incorporated as tools to assess the authenticity of beef, particularly in meat certification programs.

Electronic Tongue as a Correlative Technique for Modeling Cattle Meat Quality and Classification of Breeds

“…Additionally, microsatellite markers have been reported to be more powerful than diallelic markers, but genotyping error can be high and it is difficult to compare genotypes typed in different laboratories [41]. According to Bressan et al [42], meats originating from different finishing systems could be reliably discriminated, essentially on the basis of their fatty acid profile, but global distinction of meat from the two genetic groups was not reliable. Other methods, such as the multiplex mPCR analysis of DNA and DART-HRMS analysis of the TAGs profile of beef, have been effectively used to discriminate cattle breedx [43].…”

Consumer Perception of Beef Quality and How to Control, Improve and Predict It? Focus on Eating Quality

“…Indeed, some beef cuts from Bos indicus cattle can be tough due to the genetical effect on the calpain-calpastatin system, muscle fiber size, and metabolic properties, which result in inhibited protein degradation and ultimately decreased sensory tenderness [ 67 ]. This has led some labeling systems to exclude Bos indicus meat from their certified brands, thus hindering the presence of Bos indicus meat in major markets [ 68 ]. In fact, it has been observed that other differences such as IMF deposition and FA profile of meat produced by Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle depend mainly on feeding system [ 69 ].…”