Sensory meat quality, ultimate pH values, blood parameters and carcass characteristics in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus L.) grazed on natural pastures or fed a commercial feed mixture

Water-holding capacity, colour stability and sensory characteristics in meat (M. longissimus dorsi) from reindeer fed two different commercial feeds

“…However, the samples from LPD fed reindeer showed a tendency to be more tender (sensory score of 6.4 vs. 5.2; P= 0.06) and juicy (5.8 vs. 5.0; P=0.07) than the meat samples from CPD fed reindeer. Sensory scores for tenderness and juiciness in reindeer meat (LD) have been reported to be intermediate to high (Wiklund et al, 2003;Renecker et al, 2005;Rincker et al, 2006), and the results from the present study are in good agreement with these previous studies. Flavour differences in reindeer meat has been related to diet prior to slaughter, so that grazing free-ranging animals produced meat with more "wild" and "gamey" flavour compared with reindeer fed grain-based feed mixtures (Wiklund et al, 2003;Finstad et al, 2007).…”

“…Sensory scores for tenderness and juiciness in reindeer meat (LD) have been reported to be intermediate to high (Wiklund et al, 2003;Renecker et al, 2005;Rincker et al, 2006), and the results from the present study are in good agreement with these previous studies. Flavour differences in reindeer meat has been related to diet prior to slaughter, so that grazing free-ranging animals produced meat with more "wild" and "gamey" flavour compared with reindeer fed grain-based feed mixtures (Wiklund et al, 2003;Finstad et al, 2007). It has been suggested that natural grazing is an important contributor to the development of various "wild" flavours in meat, possibly depending partly on effects of the fatty acid (FA) composition (Wiklund et al, 2003).…”

“…Flavour differences in reindeer meat has been related to diet prior to slaughter, so that grazing free-ranging animals produced meat with more "wild" and "gamey" flavour compared with reindeer fed grain-based feed mixtures (Wiklund et al, 2003;Finstad et al, 2007). It has been suggested that natural grazing is an important contributor to the development of various "wild" flavours in meat, possibly depending partly on effects of the fatty acid (FA) composition (Wiklund et al, 2003). The present study demonstrated no flavour differences between the two treatment groups, however slightly higher values for the attribute gamey flavour (a mean value of 3.6 over the two treatment groups) compared with the attributes liver flavour (mean value of 1.7), bitter flavour (mean value of 1.3) and sweet flavour (mean value of 1.3) were reported.…”

“…For example, it has been demonstrated that feeding changes the flavour and chemical composition of the meat (Wiklund et al, 2001a;2003). Meat from pellet fed reindeer had a milder/bland flavour and a higher content of saturated fatty acids compared with meat from grazing animals (Sampels, 2005;Wiklund et al, 2001a;2003).With the risks of starvation and radioactive contamination as the main reasons, there is an obvious need for a palatable and nutritious supplementary feed for reindeer to be used in such emergency situations. The nutritional composition of this feed should be designed to be similar to the natural diet of reindeer.…”

Microbiological shelf life of fresh, chilled reindeer meat (M. longissimus dorsi)

“…Two of the most important meat quality attributes -tenderness and flavour -valued by consumers as crucial when judging the eating quality of meat have been demonstrated to be unique for reindeer meat compared with other meat types. Reindeer meat is significantly more tender compared with beef (Barnier et al, 1999) and the typical flavour of reindeer meat is a direct reflection of the natural pastures in the forest and on the mountain tundra consumed by the reindeer (Wiklund et al, 2003). It is therefore not unlikely that other aspects of reindeer meat quality like the properties of fresh chilled meat in relation to packaging and storage will differ from those of other meats.…”