• 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.29 no.5
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• pp.550-556
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• 2009

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the relationship of slaughter age and carcass traits of Hanwoo cattle. A total number of 11,284 heads of cattle (4,624 bulls, 6,120 steers, and 540 females) were used in the experiment (Exp.) 1. In the Exp. 2, 3,887 heads of steers slaughtered at age of 24-36 mon were used. After 24 h post-slaughter chilling, the carcasses were weighed and evaluated by an official grader of carcass traits according to the Korean carcass grading standard. Backfat thickness was the main variable in yield index and grade whereas marbling score was the main variable in carcass quality grade. Meat color was an important factor affecting carcass quality grade of bulls; fat color was an important factor affecting those of steers and females; and maturity was an important factor affecting that of females. After 24-mon-old, extension of slaughter age did not automatically increase the quantity and quality of meat. However, 29 mon of age can be regarded as the optimum time to slaughter steers to attain the highest take home money for farmers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.219-223
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• 1993

A total of 333 calves were evaluated for carcass quality traits including: dressing percentage (DP), yield grade (YG), marbling score (MS), fat thickness (FT) and percent body fat (PF). Mating types included straightbred Angus (A) and Santa Gertrudis (S), the reciprocal crosses of these two breeds and Gelbvieh (G) ${\times}$ Angus. The year of birth, slaughter group and dam breed were found to have greatly influenced DP. Mating types had no effect on DP. For YG, sire breed, sire within sire breed and slaughter group were important. Crossbreds of A ${\times}$ S had the highest YG followed by A purebreds. Crossbreds of G ${\times}$ A had the lowest YG. Sire breed, dam breed and the slaughter group has significantly affected the MS. Sire breed, sire nested within sire breed and slaughter group were found to have greatly influenced the FT. Sires and dams of A produced the greatest FT while sires of G produced the lowest. Slaughter group 2 (slaughtered at 433 days of age) had a greater FT than group 1 (slaughtered at 393 days of age). For PF, sire breed, sire within sire breed, dam breed and slaughter group had significant effects. A purebreds had the largest PF while S purebreds and G ${\times}$ A crosses had the least.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.912-916
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• 2008

Pre-slaughter conditions affect poultry meat quality. Therefore, stresses before slaughter like heat stress, struggle and shackling on the shackle line, crating and transport and feed withdrawal are very important for the poultry industry in respect of quality as well as welfare of the birds. However, exposure to heat in oxidative stress can in turn lead to cytotoxicity in meat type birds. Chickens exposed to heat stress before slaughter showed the lowest ultimate pH and birds shackled for a longer time the highest. The abdominal fat content was higher in heat stressed birds. Struggling on the shackle line hastened the initial rate of the pH drop and increased the redness of breast meat. Again, with increasing struggling activity, lactate concentration in breast muscle of chicken increased. Paler meat was found in birds that were transported for a longer time than in those after a small journey or not transported. The pre-slaughter and eviscerated weights were decreased as the length of feed withdrawal period increased.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.755-764
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• 2017

The current review seeks to highlight the concerns that have been raised on pre-slaughter stress, contributing factors and its consequent effects on cattle behavioural responses and the quality of beef; inter-linking the activities involved from birth to slaughter. Such information is crucial in light of the consumer concerns on overall animal welfare, quality of meat and food security. Slaughter animals are exposed to different conditions during production and transportation to abattoirs on a daily basis. However; the majority of studies that have been done previously singled out different environments in the meat production chain, while conclusions have been made that the welfare of slaughter animals and the quality of meat harvested from them is dependent on the whole chain. Behaviour is a critical component used to evaluate the animals' wellbeing and it has been reported to have an effect on product quality. Apart from the influence of on-farm, transportation and abattoir conditions, the genetic background of the animal also affects how it perceives and responds to certain encounters. Stress activates the animals' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity, triggering release of various stress hormones such as catecholamines and cortisol, thus glycogen depletion prior slaughter, elevated ultimate pH and poor muscle-meat conversion. Pre-slaughter stress sometimes results to cattle attaining bruises, resulting to the affected parts of the carcass being trimmed and condemned for human consumption, downgrading of the carcass and thus profit losses.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.113-119
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• 2006

The physicochemical properties and sensory characteristics for the neck, belly and ham of crossbred pigs SW90 (slaughter weight $90\sim100\;kg$) and SW110(slaughter weight $110\sim120\;kg$) were evaluated to investigate their quality. The water holding capacity, freezing loss, thawing loss, pan boiling loss and water boiling loss were not significantly different between SW90 and SW110, but the thawing loss and water boiling loss of belly were higher than those of other parts(p<0.05). The surface color was not affect by slaughter weight, but the L* value of belly was higher than that of the other parts and a* value was lower than that of the neck and ham(p<0.05). The mechanical texture was not affect by slaughter weight, the hardness of belly was lower than that of the neck and ham, but the springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness and shear force of neck and ham were lower than those of belly(p<0.05). The pH, VBN content and TBARS value was not significantly different by slaughter weight. The taste, aroma, texture, juiciness and palatability of SW110 were higher than those of SW90, and the sensory characteristics of belly were higher than those of neck and ham, but their difference was not significant.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.180-190
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• 2021

This study aimed to determine the carcass and meat quality of broiler chickens based on the slaughter age (28, 30, 32, and 34 days). The carcass characteristics included live and carcass weights, carcass rate, dressing rate, and retail cut weight. The meat quality properties were determined through proximate composition, pH, color, water holding capacity (WHC), cooking yield, and shear-force. The broiler chicken live, carcass, breast, thigh, and wing weights significantly increased with the slaughter age (p < 0.05); the tenderloin weight also exhibited a similarly increasing trend. However, the carcass rate of the day 28 sample was significantly lower than the other samples (p < 0.05). The protein and ash contents of the breast exhibited an increasing trend with increasing slaughter age. The protein content of the thigh of the day 28 sample was significantly lower than that of the other samples (p < 0.05), while the ash contents of the day 28 and 30 samples were significantly lower. The redness of the breast showed an increasing trend, and the pH and lightness of the thigh exhibited a decreasing trend with slaughter age. The WHC and cooking yields of the day 30 and 32 breast and thigh samples were significantly higher than those of the day 28 and 34 samples (p < 0.05). The breast and thigh shear-force of the day 30-34 samples were significantly higher than those of the day 28 sample (p < 0.05). The present study showed that even with a twoday difference in slaughter age, the broiler chicken meat quality showed a significant difference in several characteristics.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.287-297
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• 2006

Concentration of hormones and blood components at the last fatting stage was changed before slaughter in Hanwoo steers and bulls. Two months before slaughter and shipment, concentration of cortisol and creatinine was increased, but that of calcium was decreased. Concentration of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was decreased after shipment, and inorganic phosphorus (IP) was decreased at slaughter. It is unclear that changes of concentration in between 2 months before slaughter and shipment were either caused by aging or stresses (abstinence, environmental change, blood drawing, and shipment). Changes of blood concentration between shipment and slaughter may be accounted for overall responses from abstinence, shipment, and unfamiliar environment. A positive correlation between 2 months before slaughter and before shipment was detected for IGF-1, total protein (TP), albumin, creatinine, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC), and globulin in steers, and creatinine and globulin in bulls. A positive correlation between 2 month before slaughter and slaughter was detected for IGF-1, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), IP and HDLC in steers, and creatinine in bulls. A positive correlation between before shipment and slaughter was detected for testosterone, IGF-1, creatinine, triglyceride, HDLC and globulin in steers, and TP, creatinine, HDLC and globulin in bulls.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 1999

The present study was conducted to investigate the incidence of pneumonic lesions with special regard to enzootic pneumonia and the microbiology of pneumoic lungs from 544 slaughter pigs during the period from October 1995 to September 1996. The incidence of enzootic pneumonic lesion was 76.3% (41s/s44) and pleurisy was detected from 7.9% of slaughter pigs. Seasonal prevalence of pneumonic lesions in slaughter pigs were in order of prevalence of 82.9% in spring, 76.8% in winter, 74.8% in autumn and 69.0% in summer, respectively. Pasteurella multocida, Streptococcus sp, Str suis, Corynebacterium sp, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Hemophilus parasuis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae were detected in order of prevalence from 16.9%, 15.9%, 7.5%, 6.0%, 1.4%, 1.0% and 0.5% of 415 pneumonic lungs, respectively. P multocida were susceptible to oxytetracycline, polymyxin-B, streptomycin, and vancomycin, while the majority of them were resistant to amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, kanamycin, and penicillin-G. Str suis were susceptible to amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, penicillin-G, although the majority of them were resistant to erythromycin, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, vancomycin. A pleuropneumoniae were susceptible to ampicillin, and cephalothin, but the majority of them were resistant to oxytetracycline.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1967

Clinically healthy Korean adult cattle (20 females and 20 males) were selected and subjected to the experiments on the determination of erythrocytes and total leukocytes values at the stages of pre and post-slaughting. Throughout the studies the following results were obtained. 1. The erythrocytes values, at the stage of the pre-slaughter, of females and males were $6.070{\times}10^6/cmm$ and $6.175{\times}10^6/cmm$ respectively. In the case of post-slaughter stage, $7.780{\times}10^6/cmm$ and $7.705{\times}10^6/cmm$ were obtained for female and male respectively. In comparison on the values of erythrocytes between pre and post-slauglnter stages, the mean value of the latter has been increased significantly. 2. The total leukocytes value, at the stage of the pre-slaughter of females and males were 9,525/cmm and 9,630/cmm respectively. In the case of post-slaughter stage, 7,545/cmm and 7,510/cmm were obtained for females and males respectively. In comparison on the values of total leukocytes between pre and post-slaughter stages, the mean value of the latter has been decreased significantly.