Physicochemical Properties, Antioxidant Markers, and Meat Quality as Affected by Heat Stress: A Review

Abstract

Heat stress is one of the most stressful events in livestock life, negatively impacting animal health, productivity, and product quality. Moreover, the negative impact of heat stress on animal product quality has recently attracted increasing public awareness and concern. The purpose of this review is to discuss the effects of heat stress on the quality and the physicochemical component of meat in ruminants, pigs, rabbits, and poultry. Based on PRISMA guidelines, research articles were identified, screened, and summarized based on inclusion criteria for heat stress on meat safety and quality. Data were obtained from the Web of Science. Many studies reported the increased incidences of heat stress on animal welfare and meat quality. Although heat stress impacts can be variable depending on the severity and duration, the exposure of animals to heat stress (HS) can affect meat quality. Recent studies have shown that HS not only causes physiological and metabolic disturbances in living animals but also alters the rate and extent of glycolysis in postmortem muscles, resulting in changes in pH values that affect carcasses and meat. It has been shown to have a plausible effect on quality and antioxidant activity. Acute heat stress just before slaughter stimulates muscle glycogenolysis and can result in pale, tender, and exudative (PSE) meat characterized by low water-holding capacity (WHC). The enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) act by scavenging both intracellular and extracellular superoxide radicals and preventing the lipid peroxidation of the plasma membrane. Therefore, understanding and controlling environmental conditions is crucial to successful animal production and product safety. The objective of this review was to investigate the effects of HS on meat quality and antioxidant status.

The Influence of a Nanoemulsion of Cardamom Essential Oil on the Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, Carcass Characteristics, and Health Status of Growing Rabbits under a High Ambient Temperature

“…As is known, HS has multiple adverse impacts on rabbits’ health statuses and their production performance. It has been revealed that HS is responsible for a 9–12% increase in mortality rate, 20–25% reductions in average daily weight gain, and 8–15% decreases in feed conversion ratio, as well as negatively affecting the carcass traits and quality of meat in growing rabbits [ 3 , 4 ]. Thus, HS poses a significant challenge for the rabbit industry, made worse by recent global warming [ 1 ].…”

“…Thus, HS poses a significant challenge for the rabbit industry, made worse by recent global warming [ 1 ]. Several previous studies have investigated prospective mitigation strategies, and nutritional manipulation has proven to be a dynamic mitigation approach [ 4 , 5 ]. The dietary supplementation of animal diets with herbs or spices and their derivatives has provided appropriate evidence as a potential alternative to antibiotics for alleviating the negative effects of HS during summer.…”

Effects of ambient temperature on growth performance, slaughter traits, meat quality and serum antioxidant function in Pekin duck

“…Meat quality is influenced not only by genetic factors but also by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and harmful gas content. The indicators for evaluating meat quality include pH, meat color (a*, b*, and L* values), shear force, dripping loss, cooking loss, fat, ash and protein ( 17 , 23 , 42 , 43 ). Currently, research results on the cooking loss of Pekin ducks under different temperatures are inconsistent.…”

“…Maintaining redox balance is essential for effective immunity and health. Therefore, the determination of antioxidant indices may reflect the pattern of free radical metabolic changes in vivo ( 15 , 23 , 48–50 ). There are differences in the sensitivity of various antioxidant indicators in the serum of experimental ducks to temperature treatments.…”

Biogenic Selenium Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Alginate Oligosaccharides Attenuate Heat Stress-Induced Impairment of Breast Meat Quality via Regulating Oxidative Stress, Metabolome and Ferroptosis in Broilers

“…LC-MS, as one of the assays to detect metabolites, is able to provide a comprehensive coverage of substances and is considered to be a suitable technique for studying metabolism [50]. Numerous studies have documented that HS reduced meat quality by altering energy metabolism, amino acid transport, glycolysis, intramuscular fat deposition, and protein synthesis [36,[51][52][53]. In our study, a total of 312 metabolites were identified based on metabolomics analysis, mainly including organic acids, sugars, and amino acids, which were enriched in amino acid and organic acid metabolism using the KEGG analysis.…”