The effect of livestock production system and concentrate level on carcass traits and meat quality of foals slaughtered at 18 months of age

Abstract

This trial was conducted to study the effect of livestock production system (freedom extensive system (FES) v. semi extensive system (SES)) and amount of finishing feed (1.5 v. 3.0 kg of commercial feed) in SES on carcass characteristics, meat quality and nutritional value of meat foal slaughtered at 18 months of age. For this study, a total of 49 foals (21 from FES and 28 from SES) were used. The obtained results showed that SES had a positive influence on carcass characteristic because these foals showed the best values for live weight, carcass weight, dressing percentage, perimeter of leg (PL) and carcass compactness index. On the other hand, finishing feeding also had a significant ( P < 0.05) effect on PL and lean thickness, as the highest values were obtained in foals finished with 3 kg of commercial fodder. The physico-chemical properties were significantly affected by the livestock production system with the exception of ashes content ( P > 0.05). Foals finished in SES increased in 408% the intramuscular fat content (0.23 v. 1.17%, for foals reared in FES and SES, respectively). On the other hand, L*-value and a*-value were significantly ( P < 0.01) affected by livestock production system, as foals from the FES group had a more intense redder color (higher CIE a*-value) and higher lightness (higher CIE L*-value) compared with those from the SES group. Finally, meat nutritional value was significantly affected by livestock production system, as foals from an extensive production system on wood pasture could be considered as healthier in relation to their fatty acid profiles (low n-6/n-3 ratio and high hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio) as a result of the beneficial grass intake on meat fatty acid profile.

Effect of slaughter age on foal carcass traits and meat quality

“…The CCI (1.38 and 1.48 for animals from the 8-and 11-m groups, respectively) and hindlimb compactness index (HCI; 3.70 and 3.68 for animals from the 8-and 11-m groups, respectively) also showed no significant differences with an increase in slaughter age. As expected, our results agree with those of Franco et al (2013) (1.44 and 3.68 for CCI and HCI, respectively) and Lorenzo et al (2014a) (1.42 and 3.86 for CCI and HCI, respectively) in GM × HB foals finishing with 3 kg of commercial fodder and slaughtered between 15 and 18 months of age.…”

“…Therefore, as expected, the differences in LW and CW could be due to the fact that animals from the 11-m group were 3 months older than the animals from the 8-m group. The results obtained in the present study are similar those reported by Franco et al (2013) and Lorenzo et al (2014a) in foals receiving a finishing diet and slaughtered between 15 and 18 months of age (258 to 287 kg for LW and 132.8 to 152.2 kg for CW). However, Lorenzo et al (2013a) reported lower values of LW (184 to 194 kg) and CW (87.5 to 93.3 kg) in foals raised in an extensive production system in freedom regimen and slaughtered at 18 months of age.…”

“…These values are similar to those reported by Franco et al (2013) (52.8%) and Lorenzo et al (2014a) (54.16%) in foals finishing with 3 kg of commercial fodder and slaughtered between 15 and 18 months of age. Our values were lower than those found by Lanza et al (2009) in Sanfratellano and Halfinger foals slaughtered at 18 months (59.3% and 59.6%, respectively) and De Palo et al (2013 and in Italian Heavy Draught Horse foals slaughtered between 6 and 18 months of age (70% to 73.9%).…”

“…In recent studies, it has been established that carcass and horsemeat quality can be influenced by the livestock production system (Franco et al, 2011;Lorenzo et al, 2014a), breed and crossbreed (Juárez et al, 2009;Franco et al, 2013), finishing diet Franco and Lorenzo, 2014) or age/live weight Franco et al, 2011), among others.…”

“…This meat is characterized by its low fat content (Franco et al, 2011;Franco and Lorenzo, 2014), low cholesterol content (Lorenzo and Pateiro, 2013;Lorenzo et al, 2013a and2014a), high iron content and vitamins of the B group (Badiani et al, 1997). This meat has a favourable dietetic fatty acid profile, with a high content of unsaturated fatty acids relative to saturated acids and contains a greater proportion of components from the α-linolenic fatty acid family Tateo et al, 2008;Lorenzo et al, 2010;Franco et al, 2013) and also provides a large amount of essential amino acids (Franco and Lorenzo, 2014;Lorenzo et al, 2014a).…”