Effect of Breed and Finishing Diet on Chemical Composition and Quality Parameters of Meat from Burguete and Jaca Navarra Foals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of breed, Jaca Navarra (JN) vs. Burguete (BU), and finishing diet, conventional concentrate and straw, diet 1 (D1), vs. silage and organic feed, diet 2 (D2), on chemical composition and quality parameters of the longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle from forty-six foals. Animals were reared under a semi-extensive system and slaughtered at a mean age of 21 months. The results reported that both studied effects had a significant (p < 0.05) impact on meat quality; however, it was the breed to strongly influence the majority of the parameters evaluated. In particular, BU foals reported the highest amounts of intramuscular fat, positively affecting the meat properties of marbling and texture traits. Moreover, this group presented higher values for L* and b* and the lowest cholesterol contents. As regards the diet, D1 increased the fat content in foals supplemented with this diet, improving the organoleptic properties of this group. On the other hand, the combination of silage and organic feed (D2) had an opposite trend. Thus, both BU and D1 groups presented enhanced quality attributes, such as marbling, juiciness and reduced hardness, which are some of the most demanded by meat consumers.

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“…Nevertheless, most of the quality parameters evaluated were more defined by breed than finishing diet, as expected. These results are in line with those previously discussed in a former study (Cittadini et al, 2022).…”

“…Concerning diet, samples from the C group reported the greatest (P < 0.01) fat percentages, probably due to the composition of this diet, which contained higher fat amounts than the S group (Cittadini et al, 2022). In the same line, the C group improved the texture properties, that showed significantly lower (P < 0.001) shear force values.…”

“…The other group of ten male foals (5 of Jaca Navarra and 5 of Burguete breed) were finished with silage (produced by local farmers) and an organic fodder (with certification of UE/no UE Organic Agriculture), where silage represented the majority component of the diet (approximately 60 % of silage and 40 % of organic feed) (S). Additional details were previously reported (Cittadini, Sarriés, Domínguez, Pateiro, & Lorenzo, 2022).…”

“…Briefly, foals at 21 months of age were transported to the slaughterhouse (Protectora de carne S.L., Salinas de Pamplona, Navarra, Spain) the day before the sacrifice following the European regulations (European Commission, 2005) and the conditions described in a recent work (Cittadini et al, 2022). The foals were stunned in the frontal region of the head with a captive bolt, slaughtered and dressed according to the Council Regulation 1099/2009 (European Commission, 2009).…”

“…Chemical composition (moisture, intramuscular fat, protein, ash, iron content and cholesterol), pH, color parameters [lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), chroma (c*), hue (h*), myoglobin (Mb), metmyoglobin (MMb) and oxymyoglobin (OMb)], cooking loss and shear force were assessed following the protocols detailed in Cittadini et al (2022) and Pateiro et al (2013).…”