• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.905-909
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• 2001

Three groups of wethers viz. Jamunapari ♂$\times$Black Bengal ♀ (JBB), Selected Black Bengal ♂$\times$Selected Black Bengal ♀ (SBB) and Random Black Bengal ♂$\times$Random Black Bengal ♀ (RBB) of 1 year old were evaluated for pre-slaughter traits and carcass characteristics. The correlations between pre-slaughter traits and carcass traits were computed. It was found that the preslaughter weights of JBB and SBB were almost similar in yielding hot and chilled carcass as well as dressing percentage (DP). RBB wethers were lighter (p<0.05) than JBB and SBB in pre- and post-slaughter weights and also inferior (p<0.05) in DP. SBB wethers were found to produce more visceral fat compared to JBB and RBB. Other variety meats appeared erratic in yield.l. Correlations were compared by Z statistic among three genetic groups and the value of Z did not differ (p>0.05) between groups.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.58-65
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• 2018

Meat quality includes technological quality attributes, consumer acceptance, and credence characteristics. In terms of credence characteristics, animal welfare is one of the most interesting topics to both consumers and the livestock industry. Consumers prefer meat produced from livestock that has been raised in low stress and ecofriendly environments. The livestock industry cares about animal welfare to meet the requirements of consumers. Animal welfare is closely associated with the stress and physiological response of livestock to stress. Moreover, stress just before slaughter (i.e., pre-slaughter stress) has negative effects on not only animal welfare but also ultimately on meat quality. It is well-documented that pre-slaughter stress can influence ante- and post-mortem biological changes of the muscles, especially their metabolic properties and metabolites. The metabolic properties and metabolites contents also can modulate the postmortem changes of the muscles. Conversion of muscles to meat during postmortem is a very important process because it determines ultimately the meat quality. Thus, understanding pre-slaughter stress and physiological responses to stress in farm animals is important for animal welfare and meat quality. The purpose of this paper was to examine the concept of stress, physiological responses to stress, measurement of stress, and the relationships between stress indices and meat quality traits.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.159-169
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• 2016

Animal muscles are stored for specific period (aging) at refrigerated temperatures, during and after which the living muscles start to convert into meat and thus, attain certain superior properties in the final product. Proteolysis, lipolysis, and oxidation are the major biochemical processes involved during the postmortem aging of meat that affect the tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, as well as sometimes may introduce certain undesirable traits. This review analyzes the role of pre- and post-mortem factors that are important for aging and their effect on the chemical and physical changes in the “dry- and wet-aged meat.” Thus, if the meat processing manufacturers optimize the effects of aging for specific muscles, the palatability, color, and the shelf life of the aged meat products could be significantly enhanced.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.862-869
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• 2015

The current study was designed to estimate the pork quality traits using metabolites from exsanguination blood and postmortem muscle simultaneously under the Korean standard pre- and post-slaughter conditions. A total of 111 Yorkshire (pure breed and castrated male) pigs were evaluated under the Korean standard conditions. Measurements were taken of the levels of blood glucose and lactate at exsanguination, and muscle glycogen and lactate content at 45 min and 24 h postmortem. Certain pork quality traits were also evaluated. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis including stepwise regression were performed. Exsanguination blood glucose and lactate levels were positively correlated with each other, negatively related to postmortem muscle glycogen content and positively associated with postmortem muscle lactate content. A rapid and extended postmortem glycolysis was associated with high levels of blood glucose and lactate, with high muscle lactate content, and with low muscle glycogen content during postmortem. In addition, these were also correlated with paler meat color and reduced water holding capacity. The results of multiple regression analyses also showed that metabolites in exsanguination blood and postmortem muscle explained variations in pork quality traits. Especially, levels of blood glucose and lactate and content of muscle glycogen at early postmortem were significantly associated with an elevated early glycolytic rate. Furthermore, muscle lactate content at 24 h postmortem alone accounted for a considerable portion of the variation in pork quality traits. Based on these results, the current study confirmed that the main factor influencing pork quality traits is the ultimate lactate content in muscle via postmortem glycolysis, and that levels of blood glucose and lactate at exsanguination and contents of muscle glycogen and lactate at postmortem can explain a large portion of the variation in pork quality even under the standard slaughter conditions.