The Effect of Weaning and Slaughter Age on the Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Arouquesa Beef—A PDO Portuguese Meat

Abstract

(1) Background: Autochthonous breeds meat is well accepted due to its sensory characteristics, perceived low environmental impact, and animal welfare. We aimed to evaluate the effect of weaning and slaughter age on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of Arouquesa, a Portuguese Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) meat and to evaluate the psychological effect of knowing the weaning age on the consumer’s hedonic evaluation. (2) Methods: Meat from 26 animals was assigned to 4 groups, with combinations of weaning (W) at 9 or 5 months and slaughter (S) at 9 or 12 months: W9-S9, W9-S12, W5-S9, and W5-S12. The meat was analysed for pH24h, colour (L*a*b*), cooking losses and shear force. A Check All that Apply test was made with 70 consumers; they were also asked to punctuate the hedonic appreciation of anonymous and weaning age-identified meat. (3) Results: W9-S9 were more tender, had lower shear force, and was juicier than W5-S9. When animals were slaughtered at 12 months, there were no differences in the physicochemical and sensory characteristics between the weaning ages. The effect of information about the weaning age influences the consumer’s hedonic evaluation, as revealed by the comparison between the anonymous and identified samples. (4) Later weaning resulted in more tender meat when the slaughter was at 9 months and positively impacted consumer perception.

Growth Performance, Carcass and Meat Traits of Autochthonous Arouquesa Weaners Raised on Traditional and Improved Feeding Systems

“…The least-square mean values of sarcomere length are lower than 1.98 μm, reported by [ 58 ], or 1.85 μm, reported by [ 59 ], but similar to the values of 1.7 μm, reported by other authors [ 60 ]. Shear force was found to be increased in Arouquesa beef when weaning occurs at 5 months compared with weaning at 9 months in a study that also evaluated the sensory characteristics in samples with pH 24h mean values of 5.6 [ 61 ]. The lower values found in this work can be due to the higher pH values which can lead to a decrease in shear force [ 62 ].…”

Seasonal Variations on Testicular Morphology, Boar Taint, and Meat Quality Traits in Traditional Outdoor Pig Farming

“…Twenty-four hours before the sensory evaluation, the meat samples were thawed at 4 °C. Four animals from each group were randomly selected, and the loin fillets (1.5 cm) were prepared and served following the instructions outlined in Silva [ 41 ]. To maintain the original boar taint unaltered [ 40 , 42 ], no extra seasoning was added.…”

Effect of Immunocastration on Culled Sows—A Preliminary Study on Reproductive Tract, Carcass Traits, and Meat Quality

“…Every test was performed five times for each immunocastration protocol. Loin fillets (1.5 cm) were cooked and served as described in Silva [58]. Pieces measuring approximately 2 × 2 cm were extracted from the cooked fillets.…”