Effect of production system before the finishing period on carcass, meat and fat qualities of beef

Abstract

Twenty Gascon young bulls that had been reared either in intensive conditions (INT) (n = 10) with early weaning at 3 to 4 months, or in a traditional extensive (EXT) system (n = 10) with weaning at 7 months, were subjected to the same conditions during the 145-day finishing period. Production system before the finishing period did not affect conformation, dressing percentage or morphology of the carcass; nevertheless, tissue composition differed somewhat between the two groups. Display had a stronger effect on meat colour than did production system. Percentage of myoglobin was highest in INT (P ⩽ 0.001), although meat texture and sensory quality did not differ between rearing conditions. EXT animals had darker, more yellow fat, a higher percentage of n-3 fatty acids (P ⩽ 0.001), a lower percentage of saturated fatty acids (P ⩽ 0.05) and a lower n-6/n-3 index (P ⩽ 0.001) than did the INT-reared animals. Production system before the fattening period might modify some of the characteristics of commercial beef, especially those associated with fat.Keywords: Gascon breed, beef cattle, colour, panel test, fatty acids ImplicationsThe effect of background before the entrance in a feedlot on meat quality in beef has been hardly studied for the literature available on this topic is very scarce, especially when the productive life of the animals is considered as a whole and animals are fed a common finishing diet. Our results show new information and complement the existent helping to understand the possible influence of the previous fattening production system, as grazing at an early stage provokes certain distinctive characteristics that are kept even after several months of concentrate feeding.

Effects of breed‐production system on collagen, textural, and sensory traits of 10 European beef cattle breeds

“…The sensory attributes of the analyzed breeds fell within the range described by most authors (Campo, Sañudo, Panea, Albertí, & Santolaria, ; Campo et al, ; Ciria, Asenjo, Beriain, & Gorraiz, ; Gagaoua et al, ; Gorraiz, Beriain, Chasco, & Insausti, ; Guerrero et al, ; Olleta et al, ; Panea et al, ; Serra et al, ). In the literature, there is not a clear consensus about a breed effect on the sensory quality of meat.…”

“…All the texture variables were similar to those reported in the literature for animals of similar characteristics (Barahona et al, ; Campo et al, ; Campo, Sanudo, Panea, Alberti, & Santolaria, ; Christensen et al, ; Macíe et al, ; Monsón et al, ; Monson, Sanudo, & Sierra, ; Oliván et al, ; Olleta et al, ; Panea, Catalán, & Olleta, ; Panea, Ripoll, Olleta, & Sañudo, ; Sanudo et al, ). Some authors reported a lack of breed or production system effect on texture variables (Guerrero et al, ; Marino et al, ; Vieira, Garcia‐Cachan, Recio, Dominguez, & Sanudo, ), whereas other authors found such an effect (Christensen et al, ; Panea, Ripoll, Sañudo, Olleta, & Albertí, ; Sanudo et al, ). Campo et al () suggested that the meat textural characteristics were defined by breed purpose, but in the present study, the textural characteristics did not follow a clear pattern in the 10 European breeds we tested.…”

Effects of castration age, protein level and lysine/methionine ratio in the diet on colour, lipid oxidation and meat acceptability of intensively reared Friesian steers

“…All L*, a* and b* were typical of the meat from beef reared intensively, characterised by a lower physical activity and fed a diet that is low in roughage and high in concentrate (Guerrero et al, 2013). The increased production of anabolic hormones by the testes (Adams et al, 1996) after the onset of puberty, which occurs at 9 months of age in Holstein bulls (Lunstra et al, 1978), is the main factor that creates differences in the characteristics of the meat from bulls and steers (Seideman et al, 1982).…”

Determinação da coloração e a disposição de compra pelos consumidores da carne bovina

“…O tempo de maturação é muito importante na coloração da carne (Guerrero et al, 2013), pois com o passar do tempo aumenta-se oxidação lipídica, resultando em uma redução da reserva de água nas miofibrilas e consequentemente um aumento na perda de água na carne (HuffLonergan & Lonergan, 2005) o que ocasiona um aumento da luminosidade. Alguns trabalhos têm mostrado que adição de compostos naturais como própolis não altera a coloração da carne (Zawadzki et al, 2011, Muir et al, 1998b.…”