Abstract
Simple SummaryThere is an increasing demand for meat products with high nutritional quality and produced through eco-friendly and sustainable systems, such as organic production. Therefore, in this work, it was proposed to study how the main characteristics of nutritional quality of beef are modified according to the feed management system, in terms of grazing level, and the ageing time of the meat. We found that the increase in pasture intake caused calves’ meat to present lower values of fat oxidation and, simultaneously, higher values of healthy fatty acids for humans. In the case of samples from organic farming, these showed a higher fat content and lower moisture, besides being the darkest samples and those with the lowest score regarding flavour quality in the tasting panel. Furthermore, it was proved that the increase in ageing time resulted in a general improvement of the sensory characteristics of the meat samples, especially those from the animals that had consumed more pasture. Therefore, we suggest extending the ageing period of beef since there is a clear tendency to increase the tenderness and juiciness of beef meat.This study investigated the influence of the production system (conventional vs. organic), the grass consumption level and the ageing period (7 and 14 days) on beef quality. Three groups of samples from Limousin × Avileña calves were analysed: F100, formed by animals fed 100% on forage; F74, formed by animals fed on an average amount of forage of 74%; and F35, formed by animals fed on straw fodder (35%) and concentrate (65%). The results showed that the higher the grass content, the lower the fat oxidation and the higher the n-3 content, but also the higher the SFA level, the initial Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and the more residue it leaves on chewing. As for the effect of production system, organic samples showed higher intramuscular fat content and lower moisture and MUFA content. These samples were darker and showed lower values for flavour quality. Among the organic samples, F100 had higher n-3 and CLA content and higher values for colour, hardness, odour and flavour quality. Increased ageing time may improve the sensory characteristics of the meat, especially in the case of the F100 samples. The results pointed out that F100 samples aged at least 14 days showed the best physico-chemical, nutritional and sensory characteristics.
Highlights
In recent years, the intensification of production has raised issues of eco-friendly production in addition to animal health and welfare
After weaning (6 months old), they were randomly segregated into three groups as follows: Group F100 formed by animals fed 100% on fodder from certified Organic Farming pastures; Group F74 formed by animals fed during the first five months on a diet consisting of fodder (80%), 60% of which was fresh grass and the remaining 40% vetch-oats hay, and on a 50%/50% barley and wheat concentrate (20%)
Fat content trends to a decrease and vice versa, while the protein remains constant [46]. These results show that the organic meat samples (F100 and F74) had a significantly higher fat content than the conventional samples (F35)
Summary
The intensification of production has raised issues of eco-friendly production in addition to animal health and welfare These are costly goals in terms of both capital and labor [1], an increasing number of consumers are willing to pay higherprices for higher quality products, the production of which is sensitive to both the environment and animal welfare [2]. This could allow farmers to opt for systems in which minimizing production costs is not a priority [3]. Livestock management in organic production is extremely important as many studies claim that there is a close relationship between animal welfare and meat quality [7,8,9]
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