Principles of Animal Science and Production
[117.254]
Section D: Animal Growth & Meat Production
Nicola Schreurs
AH256; [email protected]
Lecture 3
D.4: Meat quality characteristics
This group of characteristics is more difficult to study scientifically
than growth or composition characteristics for several reasons:
1. The word quality has more than one meaning. Here it is
taken to mean the Level of goodness rather than the
Fitness for purpose.
2. Meat or meat-animal quality encompasses different
characteristics by people at different points in the meatproduction chain (Figure D.4, p22).
3. The consumers vary in the emphasis they place on different
components of meat quality and in the preferred level of some
characteristics (e.g. by race, sex, age, occasion, etc).
Characteristics contributing to quality at different
points in the chain (Figure D.4)
Components of Quality of
importance
Stage in the meat production
chain
MEAT at the time of
consumption
1.
2.
3.
4.
Palatability
Appearance
Nutritive value
Safety & wholesomeness
MEAT PRODUCT at the time of
retail purchase
1 to 4 above +
5. Edible meat yield
6. Ease of preparation
7. Storage requirements
8. Credence attributes
MEAT CARCASS being bought
by the butcher
1 to 8 above +
9. SMY% from the carcass
10. % in the high-priced cuts
11. Shape of the carcass (e.g. muscularity)
12. Processing properties
STORE ANIMAL being bought
by the farmer to finish
1 to 12 above +
13 The animals growth potential
14 Dressing-out %
15 Complementarity
Meat quality characteristics 1. Appearance & Palatability
(Table D.11)
Appearance characteristics
Lean meat colour [red to pink is favoured]
Mainly due to the amount and form of myoglobin
Measured subjectively, or objectively by reflectance, or VIA
Fat colour [yellowness is the main problem]
Mainly due to the concentration of carotenoids
Measurements as for meat colour
Meat texture [fine texture tends to be favoured]
Firmness and composition.
Palatability characteristics
Tenderness [the force required to bite through]
Flavour [determined by both taste and aroma]
Juiciness [affected by water content and fat content]
Both subjective and objective measurement methods are used
All 3 are complex characteristics.
Meat quality characteristics 2. Nutritive value (Table D.11)
Important characteristics of lean meat as a source of nutrients in the
human diet:
Nutrient dense with respect to protein & several other nutrients
Contains ~22% of high quality proteins
It is usually highly digestible
A good source of Fe and Zn, with the haem Fe being highly
bioavailable, and a meat factor being present
A good source of most B vitamins, esp. B12
Lean meat has a low fat content (usually)
Cholesterol levels are moderate at 70-80 mg(100 g)-1
Meat is not a good source of Ca, vit C, and dietary fibre
Lipid in the lean meat of ruminants contains 25-40% of fatty acids as
saturated FAs.
Meat quality characteristics 3. Other components of meat
quality (Table D.11)
Processing properties of meat
WHC, binding capacity, emulsifying capacity.
Safety & wholesomeness characteristics
Microorganisms
Residues
The focus in this paper will be on appearance and palatability characteristics
because they are usually the most variable.
Some approaches to the measurement of meat quality are covered briefly in
the Study Guide.
More details on the characteristics within meat responsible for its
appearance and palatability will be covered in the section on factors
affecting these characteristics.
D.5. Seven stages at which growth, composition or meat
quality may be affected (Table D.12, p27)
1. In the choice of the type of animal to run
4 sources of variation given in Table D.12
2. In the choice of the age or weight end-point
Usually target weights, dates, or level of finish are used
3. In the choice of on-farm treatments
5 aspects listed in Table D.12
4. In the choice of pre-slaughter treatment
4 aspects listed in Table D.12
5. In the choice of pre-rigor conditions
3 points to consider given in Table D.12
6. In the choice of post-rigor but pre-cooking conditions
4 examples of important variables given in Table D12
7. In the choice of cooking conditions
3 aspects of importance listed
Factors affecting growth, carcass and meat
quality characteristics
Have considered growth, carcass and meat quality
characteristics you should know what these are.
Now go on to consider how the growth, carcass and
meat quality characteristics are affected by different
factors i.e., consider why there are differences in the
characteristics.
D.5 (a): Possible reasons for growth rate differences?
Picture of Borderdale ram hoggets from Sheep Breeds of New Zealand by Graham Meadows (1997)
Why might one animal grow faster than another similar animal in the
same environment?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
It eats more, and/or
It digests & absorbs the feed it eats more effectively, and/or
It metabolises the nutrients with less heat loss, and/or
It has lower protein turnover rates in key tissues, and/or
It has a lower proportion of more active tissues, and/or
It is less affected by diseases, and/or
Other factors
Possible metabolic explanations of variation in growth:
The somatotrophic axis (Figure D.5, p28)
GRH
Hypothalamus
(in the brain)
Growth Hormone
Releasing Hormone
Somatostatin
Hypophysial Portal Vein Blood
Anterior Pituitary
Growth Hormone (GH)
(Somatotrophin)
GH in General Circulation
Liver
Body
Tissue
Muscle
Fat
IGF-1
Insulin-like
Growth Factor-1
IGF-I in General Circulation
Bone
[GH may also
stimulate IGF-1
production within the
target tissues, such
as adipose tissue or
bone.]
Some biological effects of GH (somatotrophin) in farm
animals
1. Increased protein synthesis in skeletal muscle.
2. Increased mineral accretion in bone.
3. Increased milk synthesis in lactating animals.
4. Decreased lipid synthesis in adipose tissue of animals
in a positive energy balance.
5. Increased lipolysis in adipose tissue for animals in a
negative energy balance.
6. Increased IGF-1 mRNA abundance in adipose tissue.
7. Decreased adipocyte hypertrophy.
8. Increased intestinal levels of Ca-binding protein.
9. Increased plasma levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3.
10. Increased cardiac output in lactating animals.
[Etherton, T D (2004) J.Anim.Sci. 82: E239-E244.]
Examples of factors affecting animal growth rate other
than nutrition (Table D.13)
Growth rate at a particular stage of development will be
greater for:
Breeds with higher mature weights
Because of +ive genetic relationships between mature weight and ADG
Castrate males relative to females for ruminants
The opposite is true for pigs
Animals following a period of nutritional restriction relative to
unrestricted animals
A phenomenon referred to as compensatory growth (next slide)
Steers that have been treated with hormonal growth promotants
(HGPs; eg oestradiol 17)
Due in part to increased GH production
Compensatory Growth
(Item 3 in Table D.13)
Compensatory Growth = The faster growth rate of a group of animals following
a period of restricted feeding (the differential feeding period), relative to a
control group that was not restricted.
Uniform feeding period
Live weight
Differential feeding period
a
Control
group
Restricted
group
Time
Degree of compensation (%) = [(a b)*100]/a
Factors affecting body composition: (1) Cell recruitment.
Undifferentiated
stem cell or
primitive
mesenchyme cell
Recruitmentor commitment
and differentiation
The Biological Mechanisms Responsible for Recruitment of Undifferentiated Cells
may Affect Body & Carcass Composition
Myoblast Muscle tissue
Osteoblast Bone tissue
Pre-adipocyte Adipose tissue
Fibroblast Connective tissue
Chondroblast Cartilage tissue
Several other specialised cell types
Factors affecting body composition: (2) The cellular basis
of growth (Figure D.6)
Three ways of achieving an 8-fold increase in size:
1. Growth by an
increase in cell
number
(hyperplasia)
2. Growth by an
increase in cell
size
(hypertrophy)
3. Growth by an
increase in noncellular material
(accretionary
growth)
The relative contribution of these three may influence subsequent capacity to grow
Factors affecting carcass composition: Examples (Table D.14)
Lower carcass fat% at a set weight from:
Higher mature weight
Being entire males
Genetic selection
Less feed (?)
Higher P/E ratio
GH treatment
Following winter
[because they are less mature]
[due to androgens]
[due to moderate h2 of fat%]
[not a consistent effect]
[due to extra protein]
[due to effects on lipid & protein metabolism]
[physiological basis unclear]
Higher carcass M:B at a set weight from:
Selection for M:B
MH gene
Callipyge gene
Ewe vs ram lambs
AA treatment
[due to h2 of M:B & muscling]
[due to effects on fibre number and size]
[due to more calpastatin]
[due to a lighter skeletal structure(?)]
[due to more calpastatin]
Principles of Animal Science and Production
[117.254]
Section D: Animal Growth & Meat Production
Nicola Schreurs
AH256;
[email protected]Lecture 4
Factors affecting meat quality: Important features of
skeletal muscle
Skeletal muscle or lean meat is made up of >96% muscle fibres with the
balance being mainly connective tissue and adipose tissue.
Muscle connective tissue is at three sites:
Epimysium around the whole muscle
Perimysium around bundles of muscle fibres
Endomysium around individual fibres
Key differences between skeletal muscle fibres and most other tissues
include:
It is a multinuclear syncitium
The nuclei within the fibre do not divide
The presence of myoglobin
A highly developed contractile system
A hierarchical structure, with fibrils within fibres and filaments within fibrils
Muscle structure at the sarcomere level
(Figure D.7, p 34)
Sarcomere length is an important determinant of meat tenderness,
SL tenderness
The sequence of some key post mortem changes
occurring in muscle
Loss of O2 with bleeding (exsanguination)
Switch from aerobic metabolism to anaerobic glycolysis
Lactic acid accumulation causes a drop in pH
Big reduction in the efficiency of ATP production
A drop in [ATP] triggers the onset of rigor mortis (loss of extensibility)
pH ceases to drop at about 5.5 when glycogen levels are adequate
Depleted glycogen levels at slaughter can lead to high ultimate pH
levels in meat with important implications for several meat quality
characteristics
Examples of factors affecting meat tenderness (Table D.15, p36)
Meat is likely to be less tender from:
Bos indicus cattle
Callipyge lambs
Bulls vs steers
Older animals
Poorly-fed animals
Intermediate-pH meat
Early-chilled meat
Unaged meat
Poorly cooked meat
More connective tissue
[due to less protease activity]
[due to more calpastatin]
[several possible explanations]
[due to collagen that is less soluble]
[may be age or weight effects]
[reasons for this are unclear]
[due to cold-shortening]
[due to less proteolytic activity]
[several possible explanations]
[a collagen effect]
The relationship between collagen concentration and
tenderness across muscles (p. 33 & Table D.15)
Tenderness was measured
mechanically on cooked
samples to give shear-force
values.
Within the same muscle,
collagen levels are not closely
related to tenderness.
300
250
WB shear (N)
Muscles were chosen to cover
a wide range of collagen
content (from psoas major to
shin muscles).
Increasing toughness with increasing collagen
content across several beef muscles
y = 66.829x + 74.506
R2 = 0.8882
200
150
100
50
[Meat Science (2003) 63(2): 161-168.]
0.5
1.5
Muscle collagen content (%)
2.5
Decreasing the chances of cold-shortening and
toughening by modified hanging (Table D.15, item 7)
Carcasses are normally hung
from the achilles tendon which
permits many muscles to
shorten (diagram on right).
Hanging from the hip, as
shown, results in more of the
more valuable muscles being
unable to shorten, thereby
increasing the likelihood of
tender meat.
Electrical stimulation is a
more widely used method of
minimising cold-shortening.
Stretched muscles
of leg and back
Less stretched
muscle
Changes post mortem in meat/muscle pH & inextensibility
(Figure D.8)
pH drop (due to lactic acid
accumulation) is
accelerated by ES due to
muscle contraction.
Increased inextensibility (due
to low [ATP]) occurs sooner
when muscle is electrically
stimulated.
Factors affecting the colour of meat or fat
(Table D.15, p37)
Meat/fat colour can be affected by:
Connective tissue/Intramuscular fat levels
Breed of cattle for fat colour
Meat ultimate pH
The rate of pH decline
An O2-rich atmosphere
Concentration and form of Mb
[due to dilution effect]
[due to carotenoid]
[for several reasons]
[due to high temp-low pH]
[due to more MbO2]
[main determinants of
meat colour]
Deoxymyoglobin {purplish-red} fresh cut surface
Oxymyoglobin
{bright red}
colour of bloomed meat
Metmyoglobin
{brown}
Fe++ oxidised to Fe+++
Myoglobin and meat colour
Deoxymyoglobin
Fe2+
O2
oxygenation
Purple-red
Oxymyoglobin
Fe2+
Bright red
Electron loss
oxidation
Metmyoglobin
Fe3+
Brown
An example of factors affecting meat colour through the form of
myoglobin on the meats surface (Table D15)
Consumers avoid meat with metmyoglobin levels >30% due to its brownness.
In this trial Wagyu beef on retail display was assessed over 12 days @ 4 C.
Shelf-life of tenderloin was only about 3 days, while that for striploin from younger
cattle (24 mo) was up to 9 days.
Asian-Australasian J.Anim.Sci. (2003) 16(9):1364-1368
D.6: Carcass classification criteria used in NZ & elsewhere
Criterion
Application in NZ
1. Animal age/maturity
Yes, for beef, sheep, deer, & pigs
2. Animal gender
Yes, for older classes only for some species
3. Carcass fatness
Yes, for all species
4. Carcass shape
Yes for beef, but not other species
5. SMY% or LMY%
Not directly for any species
6. Fat colour
To a limited extent for beef and lamb
7. Muscle/meat colour
Only for some beef for certain markets
8. Marbling level
Only for some beef for some markets currently
9. Ultimate pH
Intermittently; mainly for some prime beef
10. Carcass weight range
Yes, for all species in a step/stair pattern
11. Other meat quality items No.
Depths of fat or soft-tissue used for carcass classification
(Figure D.9)
Fat depth
C, D, or P2
Eyemuscle
Soft-tissue
depth GR
Standard photographs of lamb carcasses used for scoring
conformation in the UK
