83 Eating and Nutritional Quality of Meats from Water Buffalo Versus Cattle. a Review

Abstract

Abstract Worldwide, water buffalo [Bubalis bubalis (Buffalo)] is commonly raised as a dual-purpose animal (intentionally for dairy production because their meat quality has been generally perceived as poor). Breeding for milk production, hunting, exhibition, or novelty ownership has been the primary use of Buffalo in United States and Canada. A scientific review was conducted to examine the effect of species (Buffalo vs. cattle) on meat sensory and nutritional quality. Compilation of this type of comparative studies is a necessary exercise to inform all segments of the meat value chain, particularly, final consumers. According to a bibliometric analysis it can be estimated that in the last twenty years the Web of Science database has recorded over 500 publications about Buffalo breeding. Unfortunately, the vast majority of studies comparing quality- or chemical-related trails between these bovid species did not plan adequately in the experimental design to raise or fatten them under the same environmental conditions and (or) made comparisons at a given (fair) endpoint [e.g.., same average age or body weight). Furthermore, most literature reviews on the topic made inferences by making use of observational studies and (or) tabulated findings of different researchers that did not include both species in the same experiment or did not use exclusion criteria to minimize the bias of the interspecific alleged contrasts. This presentation will discuss results from selected controlled experiments reporting quality and nutrient composition of meats from cattle vs. Buffalo. Very few controlled studies could be retrieved on comparison of meat quality (n = 13) and nutrient composition (n = 8) between Buffalo versus indicine (Bos indicus) or European (Bos taurus) cattle. Results from four out of thirteen comparative studies reporting sensory and (or) textural quality traits favored beef; however, three of these experiments only considered textural variables; one of them only included 16 animals older than 50 months of age whereas in the second companion study one half of the experimental group (n = 8) consisted on animals aged 48 to 54 months. According to the survey on proximal/nutrient composition there are minor differences between meats from both species. The results presented herein reveal the potential of young buffaloes to produce comparable or higher-quality meat than cattle counterparts, even under free-range conditions.