• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1616-1623
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• 2008

This study was conducted to determine the effect of hot environment and dietary crude protein level (CP) on performance, carcass characteristics, meat visual quality, muscle chemical composition and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration of tissues in broilers. Two hundred and sixteen 21-d old Arbor Acre broilers were used in a $4\times3$ factorial arrangement and randomly reared in 4 environmental chambers and fed on 3 diets with different CP levels for 3 weeks. The results showed: (1) when air temperature (AT) rose to $33^{\circ}C$, average daily feed intake, average daily gain, carcass weight, right breast meat weight, left thigh and drumstick meat weight decreased (p<0.05) and feed conversion rate decreased (p<0.05), but the ratio of carcass to live weight and of left thigh and drumstick meat weight to carcass weight increased (p<0.05). (2) There were significant differences in pH and shear force in breast meat, and shear force, L* and a* in thigh meat (p<0.01 or 0.05) among hot environments. Dietary CP level tended to affect breast meat pH and pH and L* of thigh meat (p<0.06 or 0.09). Compared to the normal temperature ($22^{\circ}C$), low temperature ($15^{\circ}C$) and hot humid (AT $33^{\circ}C$, relative humidity (RH) 80%) treatments significantly (p<0.05) decreased the tenderness of thigh meat. L* and a* value in thigh meat under high temperature treatments, regardless of RH, were higher (p<0.05) than those under normal temperature. (3) Protein content in breast and thigh meat of broilers fed under high temperature ($33^{\circ}C$) was lower (p<0.05) than that under $22^{\circ}C$, but fat content had an adverse change. High temperature ($33^{\circ}C$) increased the moisture of breast meat significantly (p<0.05). Protein content in breast meat increased significantly (p<0.05), in which fat content had an adverse change (p<0.05), when the dietary protein rose. (4) MDA concentration in liver and breast meat under hot humid (AT $33^{\circ}C$, RH 80%) treatment increased markedly (p<0.05). (5) High humidity could sharpen the bad effect of high temperature on performance, carcass yield and choice cuts, crude protein and moisture content in breast meat. It was concluded that a hot environment could affect the performance and meat quality of broiler chicks more significantly than CP level and that high humidity would aggravate the bad influence of high temperature on the broiler.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.683-689
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• 2014

This study examined carcass and meat quality parameters in growing/finishing pigs fed unconventionally versus the concentrate-based system. Ninety-six, 12 wk old pigs ($34{\pm}SD0.3kg$) were randomly divided into three groups, assigned to one of the three dietary treatments: standard complete concentrate mixture, conventional (C diet); unconventional, steamed potato-green forage-concentrate based diet (U diet), and unconventional basal diet+herbage mix (UH diet). Pigs fed U diet showed lower dressing percentage, meatiness, loin eye area, and weight of pork neck ($p{\leq}0.05$), but their carcasses were significantly ($p{\leq}0.05$) longer and had increased backfat depth ($p{\leq}0.05$). There was no impact of the diet on the meat content of dry matter, crude ash, acidity, and colour parameters of m. longissimus. Unconventional feeding significantly ($p{\leq}0.05$) elevated water the holding capacity of m. longissimus and slightly improved the sensory attributes analysis of meat. The addition of herbs resulted in increased loin eye area ($p{\leq}0.05$), decreased fat content ($p{\leq}0.05$) in m. longissimus, and tended to improve some sensory attributes of meat. There were significant gender differences in response to all diets. There were significant diet${\times}$sex interactions for some measured variables, but there were no clearly identifiable trends with regard to any specific carcass or meat parameters. Feeding unconventional diet to pigs may offer better culinary attributes of the meat, and improve some technologically important characteristics of pig carcass, but may negatively affect some carcass or meat parameters.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.270-277
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• 2018

Objective: The present experiment has tested the effect of dietary alfalfa flavonoids (AAF) supplementation on the productive performances, carcass characteristics, meat quality and lipid oxidation of growing rabbits. Methods: One hundred and sixty crossbred rabbits (42 days old) were divided into four groups of forty animals each and were fed either a control diet (AAF0) or an AAF0 diet supplemented with 400, 800, or 1,200 mg of AAF/kg per diet (AAF4, AAF8, and AAF12, respectively) from weaning to slaughtering (102 days old). Performance data were recorded over a period of 60 days. At the end of the trial, 12 rabbits were slaughtered per group, and the carcass characteristics were recorded. Moreover, the plasma, liver and dorsal muscles were sampled from 12 rabbits/group, and were analyzed for lipid oxidation. Results: No significant differences were recorded for the performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits except for lightness parameter that was lower in the control group. Dietary AAF supplementation significantly (p<0.01) affected the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of the frozen meat in a dose-related manner, with the lowest value (0.24 mg MDA/kg fresh meat) recorded in the AAF12 group samples. Conclusion: These findings indicated that the dietary inclusion of AAF in rabbit diets improved muscle oxidation stability with no adverse effects on the growth performance of the animals even if a slight impact on meat lightness color parameter was recorded.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.905-910
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• 2013

This study was performed to determine the influence of pig breed and gender on the ultimate pH and physicochemical properties of pork. The correlations between pH and pork quality traits directly related to carcass grade, and consumer's preference were also evaluated. The pH and meat grading scores for cold carcasses of 215 purebred pigs (Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire) from four different farms were obtained. Meat quality parameters of the pork loin were analyzed. Duroc and female animals were more affected compared to other breeds and male pigs. Duroc animals had the highest ultimate pH, carcass back fat thickness, marbling scores, yellowness, and fat content (p<0.05). Landrace pigs had the highest color lightness and cooking loss values (p<0.05). Among all trait parameters, marbling scores showed the highest significant differences when evaluating the impact of breed and gender on meat quality characteristics (p<0.001). Ultimate pH was positively correlated with carcass weight (0.20), back fat thickness (0.19), marbling score (0.17), and color score (0.16) while negatively correlated with cooking loss (-0.24) and shear force (-0.20). Therefore, pork samples with lower ultimate pH had lower cooking loss, higher lightness, and higher shear force values irrespective of breed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.865-871
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• 2017

Objective: The aim was to evaluate carcass characteristics, cut yield, and meat quality in lambs that were fed different inclusion levels of palm kernel cake. Methods: Forty-five woolless castrated male Santa $In{\hat{e}}s$ crossbred sheep with an initial average body weight of $23.16{\pm}0.35kg$ were used. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with five treatments, with palm kernel cake in the proportions of 0.0%, 7.5%, 15.0%, 22.5%, and 30.0% with nine replications per treatment. After slaughter, the gastrointestinal tract was weighed when it was full, after which it was then emptied. The heart, liver, kidney, pancreas perirenal fat were also collected and weighed. The carcass was split into two identical longitudinal halves and weighed to determine the quantitative and qualitative characteristics. Results: The empty body weight, carcass weight and yield, and fat thickness decreased linearly (p<0.05) as a function of palm kernel inclusion in the diet. There was no difference (p>0.05) for the rib eye area of animals that were fed palm kernel cake. There was a reduction in the commercial cut weight (p<0.05), except for the neck weight. The weights of the heart, liver, kidney fat, small, and large intestine, and gastrointestinal tract decreased. Nevertheless, the gastrointestinal content was greater for animals that were fed increasing levels of cake. For the other organs and viscera, differences were not verified (p>0.05). The sarcomere length decreased linearly (p<0.05), although an effect of the inclusion of palm kernel cake was not observed in other meat quality variables. It is worth noting that the red staining intensity, indicated as A, had a tendency to decrease (p = 0.050). Conclusion: The inclusion of palm kernel cake up to 30% in the diet does not lead to changes in meat quality characteristics, except for sarcomere length. Nevertheless, carcass quantitative characteristics decrease with the use of palm kernel cake.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.551-560
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• 2014

Twenty-four male 1-year old swamp buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) were randomly allocated to 4 groups. One group grazed on guinea grass (GG) and another on guinea grass and the legume Stylosanthes guianensis (GL). The other two groups were kept in pens and fed freshly cut guinea grass and concentrate at an amount of 1.5% (GC1.5) and 2.0% (GC2.0) of body weight, respectively. The effect of the different feeding intensities on carcass characteristics and meat quality were assessed. The mean body weight at slaughter was 398 (${\pm}16$) kg. Average daily gain was higher in concentrate-supplemented groups (570 and 540 g/d in GC1.5 and GC2.0, respectively) when compared to GG (316 g/d) and GL (354 g/d) (p<0.01). Likewise, the warm carcass weight was higher in GC1.5 and GC2.0 compared to GG and GL. Dressing percentage was 48.1% and 49.5% in GC1.5 and GC2.0 in comparison to 42.9% and 44.8% observed in GG and GL, respectively. Meat of Longissimus throracis from GC1.5 and GC2.0 was redder in color (p<0.01), while water holding capacity (drip and thawing loss) was improved in pasture-fed groups (p<0.05). Protein and fat content of Longissimus thoracis was higher in animals supplemented with concentrate (p<0.01), as was cholesterol content (p<0.05), whereas PUFA:SFA ratio was higher and n-6/n-3 ratio lower (p<0.01) in pasture-fed buffaloes. Results of the present study showed that the supplementation of pasture with concentrate enhances the growth and carcass characteristics of swamp buffaloes expressed in superior dressing percentage, better muscling, and redder meat with a higher content of protein and fat, whereas animals grazing only on pasture had a more favorable fatty acid profile and water holding capacity. In conclusion, the supplementation of concentrate at a rate of about 1.5% of body weight is recommended to improve the performance and carcass quality of buffaloes.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.313-318
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• 2010

The Jeju native pigs of 168 heads (116 barrows and 52 gilts) were examined to investigate the carcass characteristics related to gender, meat quality grades and yield grades. The averages of carcass characteristics for Jeju native pigs were 72.94 kg for carcass weight, 20.98 mm for backfat thickness, 38.14 for Hunter L*, 4.68 for a*, 6.04 for b*, 5.61 for pH, 3.61 for visual plate meat color, 3.36 for marbling scores, 1.83 for meat quality grades and 2.08 for yield grades, respectively. The carcass weight of gilts was significantly higher than that of barrows (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between barrows and gilts in carcass percent, backfat thickness, and meat color. The pH of barrows was significantly higher than that of gilts (p<0.05). The differences between gender groups were significantly noticed in carcass quality grades, and yield grades (p<0.05). The carcass weight, carcass percent, backfat thickness, and marbling scores for pigs with high grades(1 and 2 grades) were significantly higher than those for pigs with low grades (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference among 4 carcass grades. The carcass weight, carcass percent, backfat thickness, pH, and meat color for carcass with high yield grades were significantly higher than those for carcass with low grades (p<0.05). The meat colors for Hunter L*, a* and b* were not significantly shown in carcass yield grades.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1217-1226
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• 2011

Finding alternative feeds, such as sesame hulls and Prosopis juliflora species can attenuate difficulties of feed shortage and reduce the cost of animal feed in arid and semi-arid countries. Thirty-two Black male kids with similar initial weights (BW = $16.7{\pm}0.80\;kg$) and $120{\pm}5\;d$ of age, were used to evaluate the effect of replacing barley grains and soybean meal with Prosopis juliflora pods (PJP) and sesame hulls (SH) on growth performance, digestibility and carcass and meat characteristics. Kids were equally divided into four dietary treatment groups for an 84-d fattening period. Treatment diets had similar crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME). The treatment groups were: (T1) no PJP nor SH, (T2) 10% PJP and 20% SH, (T3) 15% PJP and 15% SH, and (T4) 20% PJP and 10% SH. A tendency was detected (p<0.08) for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes that were greater for T2 than T3 and T4 while T1 was not different from all other treatment groups. Ether extract (EE) intake was the greatest (p<0.05) for T2 and the lowest for T1. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake was greater (p<0.05) for T2 than T1 while T3 and T4 were intermediate. Final live weight, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were comparable among different treatment groups. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were similar among all treatment groups, however, EE digestibility was the lowest (p<0.05) for T1 when compared to other treatments. In addition, nitrogen intake, nitrogen in urine and retained and retention percentages were similar among all treatment groups. However, N loss in feces was higher (p<0.05) for T2 than T3 and T4 while T1 was intermediate. No differences were observed among treatment groups with respect to fasting live weight, hot and cold carcass weights, dressing-out percentages, mesenteric fat, visceral organs, carcass cuts percentages and carcass linear dimensions. No differences were also observed for dissected loin, leg, rack and shoulder tissues except in the total bone % for loin cuts and in the meat to bone ratio for rack cuts. T3 has the greatest total bone % and the lowest meat to bone ratio when compared to all other treatment groups. No differences were observed between treatment groups in all quality characteristics of the longissimus muscle. The present study demonstrates the potential of using PJP and SH for growing kids without adverse effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2010

A total of 96 non-lean-type (Yorkshire $\times$ Landrace) $\times$ Duroc gilts and barrows weighing approximately 80 kg were randomly allocated to 24 pens under a 2 (sex) $\times$ 3 [diet; 3.4, 3.2, and 3.0 Mcal DE/kg {'high'-, 'medium'-, and 'low'-energy diets (HE, ME, and LE), respectively}] factorial arrangement of treatments. All animals were slaughtered approximately at 115 kg, after which carcass quality traits and grades and physicochemical and sensory characteristics of the loin related to meat quality were analyzed. The ADG and gain:feed were not affected by the sex or dietary treatment, whereas ADFI was greater in the ME vs HE group. Backfat thickness was greater in barrows vs gilts and also in ME and HE vs LE only in barrows. Enumerated carcass marbling and quality grade, which were highly correlated (r=0.56; P<0.01), were greater in barrows vs gilts. Physicochemical characteristics including the color, pH, drip loss and contents of moisture, protein, and fat of fresh loin, as well as sensory characteristics of fresh and cooked loin, were not affected by the sex or dietary treatment, except for shear force for cooked loin which was greater (P<0.05) in LE and ME vs HE. In conclusion, it is thought that ME is comparable to HE in terms of the effect on growth and carcass quality of finishing pigs, but that the relative effect of LE vs ME needs to be further studied.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1656-1665
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• 2020

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of stress during slaughter of beef cattle on physiological parameters, carcass, and meat quality at a Federal Inspection Type slaughterhouse located in the southeast of Mexico. Methods: A total of 448 carcasses of male Zebu×European steers with an average age of 36 months were included. Carcass assessment of presence of bruises and bruise characteristics was carried out on each half-carcass. Blood variable indicators of stress (packed cell volume, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, glucose, cortisol concentration) and meat quality parameters (pH, color, shear force, drip loss) were evaluated. Results: Of the 448 carcasses evaluated, 81% of the carcasses showed at least one bruise; one bruise was detected in 36.6% and two bruises in 27.0% of animals. Of the 775 bruises found, 69.2% of the bruises were grade 1 in region 3. Of the 448 carcasses studied, 69.6% showed hyperglycemia (6.91 mmol/L); 44.3% and 22.7% showed high (74.7 ng/mL) and extremely high (108.8 ng/mL) cortisol levels, respectively, indicative of inadequate handling of animals during preslaughter and slaughter. Of the carcasses evaluated, 90.4% had a pH ≥5.8 with an average of pH 6.3. In both pH groups, meat samples showed L^⋆ values >37.0 (81.6%) and a shear force >54.3 N; meat pH≥5.8 group showed a drip loss of 2.5%. These findings were indicative of dark, firm, and dry (DFD) meat. According to principal component analysis, grades 1 and 2 bruises in region 3 and grade 1 bruises in region 5 were highly associated with cortisol, drip loss, and color parameters b^⋆ and h^⋆ and were negatively associated with L^⋆, a^⋆, and C^⋆. Conclusion: The bruises probably caused by stress-inducing situations triggered DFD meat. Appropriate changes in handling routines in operating conditions should be made to minimize stress to animals during the slaughter process to improve animal welfare and meat quality.