Effect of calf feeding regimes and diet EDTA on physico-chemical characteristics of veal stored under modified atmospheres

Abstract

Physico-chemical characteristics of veal from 30 calves allotted to five different rations with respect to iron bioavailability were evaluated at packaging and after 2 and 4 weeks of storage under both 100% CO 2 and 100% N 2. The five diets were ‘Milk’, ‘Grain’, ‘Mix’ (combination of Milk and Grain) and ‘Mix + EDTA’ and ‘Grain + EDTA’ where 15 mg EDTA were added per mg Fe in the feed concentrate. Diet EDTA was generally more influential on veal quality than storage treatments. The chelator caused an unexpected pH drop in veal stored four weeks irrespective of storage conditions ( p ≤ 0.05). However, the colour, texture and flavour of meat from animals fed EDTA in the Grain- and Mix-ration was equivalent to that of Milk-fed veal ( p ≤ 0.05). The EDTA treatments also improved the appearance of veal under anoxic atmospheres. Upon storage however, the chelator increased veal drip losses ( p ≤ 0.05) and also cooking losses from Grain-fed calves ( p ≤ 0.05). Packaging under CO 2 decreased pH ( p ≤ 0.05) and increased drip losses ( p ≤ 0.05) but did not alter other physico-chemical parameters. Dietary treatments had no effect on shear forces ( p > 0.05) which decreased after two weeks in storage ( p ≤ 0.05) independent of gas atmospheres. Overall, the quality characteristics of pale veal were obtained following addition of EDTA in Grain- and Mix-fed animals and were maintained in storage. This approach looks promising for the veal industry but warrants further research.