Lairage time effect on meat quality in Hereford steers in rangeland conditions

Franciely De Oliveira Costa,Gustavo Brito,Juan Manuel Soares De Lima,Marcia Del Campo,Mateus José Rodrigues Paranhos Da Costa,Aline Cristina Sant’Anna

doi:10.1590/rbz4820180020

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study evaluated lairage time effects on carcass and meat quality traits of Hereford steers. Thirty Hereford steers fed on pasture were assigned to two treatments according to lairage time: 3 h (n = 15) and 12 h (n = 15). Individual temperament was assessed using crush score and flight speed. pH decline, glycogen content, meat color, and shear force were measured. pH was not different between treatments at any time point, showing a normal decline rate. Meat color [...]

Highlights

Pre-slaughter handling procedures are critical for beef cattle, because the animals may be exposed to stressful situations in which fear, dehydration, hunger, increased physical activity, fatigue, and physical injury may occur and may negatively affect meat quality
Meat color and shear force did not differ between treatments, but muscle glycogen was lower in treatment with 3 h, not enough to affect quality but suggesting a higher level of stress in 3 h lairage time
86.67% of the carcasses was scored as grade 2 and 13.33% as grade 1

Summary

Introduction

Pre-slaughter handling procedures are critical for beef cattle, because the animals may be exposed to stressful situations in which fear, dehydration, hunger, increased physical activity, fatigue, and physical injury may occur and may negatively affect meat quality (for a review see Ferguson and Warner, 2008). Expenditure of glycogen reserve could increase due to these stressful situations, leading to the reduction of glycogen concentration in the muscle. This condition could impair proper meat acidification, sometimes negatively affecting meat quality (reviewed in Muchenje et al, 2009). Lairage time is part of the pre-slaughter procedures and is related to a variety of stress factors challenging farm animals (Velarde and Dalmau, 2012). Other authors have reported that longer lairage time allows cattle to recover from the stress of transport with a positive effect on the meat acidification process (Mounier et al, 2006; del Campo et al, 2010)

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