Meat and carcass quality of Dexter cattle compared with that of suckler, Charolais-cross calves: a preliminary study

Abstract

Tenderness, flavour and colour are the most important quality traits of beef that are influenced by breed and age. Suckler calves (SC) produce very tender, high-quality meat. Extensively growing, small-framed breeds are known for high-quality beef, but information about the particularly small Dexter cattle (D) is yet unavailable. Eight D and seven Charolais-crossbreed SC were kept for 11 weeks on alpine pastures to be able to compare their meat quality. The SC were kept with their dams. The animals of the two breeds were slaughtered at different ages (D: 15 months and SC: 7 months) consistent with their respective production system conventions. Although this meant that age and breed effects were confounded, slaughter took place at the same carcass fatness score, thereby avoiding a confounding effect on meat quality. Quality of the carcass and of two muscles (M. biceps femoris, M. longissimus thoracis) was analysed. Despite being older, D had lower body and carcass weights, dressing percentage and bodyweight gains than SC. Dexter meat was darker than SC meat. Shear force did not differ between D and SC in the M. longissimus thoracis but was higher in the M. biceps femoris from D than from SC. Sensory analysis by a trained panel demonstrated an overall preference for D meat, associated with more favourable flavour and juiciness. Tenderness was not rated differently. Despite the unfavourable darker colour of D compared with SC meat, its characteristic flavour might attract consumers in a high-price niche market. For a more comprehensive characterisation, sensory evaluation of additional muscles is required. Additional measurements on a larger number of animals and muscles are required.

The effects of Alnus viridis encroachment in mountain pastures on the growth performance, carcass and meat quality of Dexter cattle and Engadine sheep

“…The cattle and sheep meat did not differ with respect to pH at 24 h post mortem in either muscle. Similar high cooking losses in two animal species have been reported for robust Valdostana cattle (Kreuzer et al 2021), Dexter cattle and Charolais suckling calves (Giller et al 2019) However, in other studies carried out with different breeds under varying conditions, lower cooking losses were noted in the two muscles (Chambaz et al 2003;Gangnat et al 2016;Giller et al 2021). Despite the generally higher shear force compared to the Engadine sheep meat in our study, the BF of the Dexter cattle qualified as tender (≤40 N; Branscheid et al 2007).…”

“…Despite the generally higher shear force compared to the Engadine sheep meat in our study, the BF of the Dexter cattle qualified as tender (≤40 N; Branscheid et al 2007). However, the LT of Dexter beef aged for 3 weeks had a surprisingly large shear force not previously found in this breed (Giller et al 2019). The differences in the muscle fibre profiles between the two animal species may help interpret the differences in the water-holding capacity and tenderness.…”

“…Conformation was scored by the Swiss system (cf. Giller et al 2019) into nine classes (C, H, T-, T, T+, A, X1, X2, X3). For comparison with the existing literature, the results were translated into five classes (C, H, T, A, X).…”

“…Farmers have reported that individuals among Dexter cattle, a small and robust British breed (Dexter Cattle Society 2021), seem to use woody plants as a feed resource. This breed was recently experimentally investigated (Giller et al 2019) although not for this property. As shrub-encroached pastures are expected to provide forage of a lower density and limited nutritional quality, the growth performance and carcass quality (insufficient conformation and fat cover) of grazing animals may be impaired, whereas the FA profile of the meat lipids may shift to become particularly favourable in terms of human health.…”

The effect of various protein sources in goose diets on meat quality, fatty acid composition, and cholesterol and collagen content in breast muscles

“…Our study revealed a significantly higher content of intramuscular fat in geese fed yellow lupin. This is not a negative trait, because other researchers ( Damaziak et al., 2019 ; Giller et al., 2019 ) reported that fat is a carrier of flavors in meat. The water binding of meat is expressed as water-holding capacity and amount of drip loss (the values indicate how much water was lost).…”