Dataset Information

The Impact of Pre-Slaughter Stress on Beef Eating Quality.

ABSTRACT: The study evaluated the relationship between pre-slaughter stress, plasma biomarkers and consumer-evaluated eating quality of pasture raised beef cattle (n = 488). The design tested steer only, heifer only and mixed sex cattle with a comparison of direct kill versus a 14 day rest period in abattoir holding paddocks prior to slaughter. Experiment One sourced cattle from four farms and tested shipping and road transport. Experiment Two sourced cattle from four farms and tested a commercial saleyard pathway. The impact on treatment on untrained consumer eating quality scores were tested on five muscle groups, m. psoas major, m. longissimus dorsi lumborum, m. biceps femoris, m. semitendinosis, and m. infraspinatus. Across all muscles, a two-week rest period had the biggest improvement in sensory score. Mixed groups scored lower in the outside muscle than non-mixed groups. However, the mixing response was inconsistent in the eye round muscle and not significant in the other muscles. Plasma glucose and L-lactate indicated a marked acute stress response at slaughter with a small detrimental impact on consumer score. The muscle damage enzyme markers creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were strongly associated with a lower meat quality score (MQ4). Neither β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) nor non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were associated with MQ4, suggesting that fat mobilisation does not impact consumer sensory score.

SUBMITTER: Loudon KMW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6769826 | biostudies-other | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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The Impact of Pre-Slaughter Stress on Beef Eating Quality.

Loudon Kate M W KMW Tarr Garth G Lean Ian J IJ Polkinghorne Rod R McGilchrist Peter P Dunshea Frank R FR Gardner Graham E GE Pethick David W DW

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20190827 9

The study evaluated the relationship between pre-slaughter stress, plasma biomarkers and consumer-evaluated eating quality of pasture raised beef cattle (n = 488). The design tested steer only, heifer only and mixed sex cattle with a comparison of direct kill versus a 14 day rest period in abattoir holding paddocks prior to slaughter. Experiment One sourced cattle from four farms and tested shipping and road transport. Experiment Two sourced cattle from four farms and tested a commercial saleyar ...[more]

PMID: 31461903

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Project description:Introduction: Phenotype predictions of beef eating quality for individual animals could be used to allocate animals to longer and more expensive feeding regimes as they enter the feedlot if they are predicted to have higher eating quality, and to sort carcasses into consumer or market value categories. Phenotype predictions can include genetic effects (breed effects, heterosis and breeding value), predicted from genetic markers, as well as fixed effects such as days aged and carcass weight, hump height, ossification, and hormone growth promotant (HGP) status. Methods: Here we assessed accuracy of phenotype predictions for five eating quality traits (tenderness, juiciness, flavour, overall liking and MQ4) in striploins from 1701 animals from a wide variety of backgrounds, including Bos indicus and Bos taurus breeds, using genotypes and simple fixed effects including days aged and carcass weight. The genetic components were predicted based on 709k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) using BayesR model, which assumes some markers may have a moderate to large effect. Fixed effects in the prediction included principal components of the genomic relationship matrix, to account for breed effects, heterosis, days aged and carcass weight. Results and Discussion: A model which allowed breed effects to be captured in the SNP effects (e.g., not explicitly fitting these effects) tended to have slightly higher accuracies (0.43–0.50) compared to when these effects were explicitly fitted as fixed effects (0.42–0.49), perhaps because breed effects when explicitly fitted were estimated with more error than when incorporated into the (random) SNP effects. Adding estimates of effects of days aged and carcass weight did not increase the accuracy of phenotype predictions in this particular analysis. The accuracy of phenotype prediction for beef eating quality traits was sufficiently high that such predictions could be useful in predicting eating quality from DNA samples taken from an animal/carcass as it enters the processing plant, to enable optimal supply chain value extraction by sorting product into markets with different quality. The BayesR predictions identified several novel genes potentially associated with beef eating quality.

Project description:BackgroundPre-slaughter stress or the welfare condition of food-producing animals (FPAs) and the slaughter practices of slaughterhouse workers (SHWs) are critically important for the safety and quality of meats processed in slaughterhouses (SHs). Consequently, this study determined the pre-slaughter, slaughter, and post-slaughter (PSP) practices of SHWsin four SHs in Southeast, Nigeria; and discussed the impacts on meat quality and safety.MethodsThe PSP practices were determined by observation method. Additionally, a structured and validated closed-ended questionnaire was used to determine the knowledge of the SHWs on: the effects of poor welfare (preslaughter stress) on the quality and safety of meats produced, carcass/meat processing practices and modes of transmission of meat-borne zoonotic pathogens during carcass/meat processing. Finally, a systematic post-mortem inspection (PMI) was conducted on cattle, pigs and goats slaughtered, and economic losses accruable from condemned carcasses/meats were estimated.ResultsFood-producing animals were transported to the SHs or held in the lairage under inhumane conditions. A pig being conveyed to one of the SHs was seen gasping for air, as it was firmly tied on motorbike at the thoracic and abdominal regions. Fatigued cattle were forcefully dragged on the ground from the lairage to the killing floor. Cattle for slaughter were restrained, held in lateral recumbency and left groaning, due to extreme discomfort, for about one hour before slaughter. Stunning was not performed. Singed pig carcasses were dragged on the ground to the washing point. Although more than 50% of the respondents knew the modes of transmission of meat-borne zoonotic pathogens during meat processing, 71.3% of the SHWs processed carcasses on bare floor, 52.2% used same bowl of water to wash multiple carcasses while 72% did not wear personal protective equipment during meat/carcass processing. Processed meats were transported to meat shops in an unsanitary conditions, using open vans and tricycles. During the PMI, diseased carcasses/meats/organs were detected in 5.7% (83/1452), 2.1% (21/1006) and 0.8% (7/924) of the cattle, pig and goat carcasses inspected, respectively. Gross lesions pathognomonic of bovine tuberculosis, contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia, fascioliasis and porcine cysticercosis were detected. Consequently, 391,089.2 kg of diseased meat/organs valued at 978 million Naira (235, 030 USD) were condemned. There were significant associations (p < 0.05) between educational level and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during slaughterhouse operations and knowledge that FPAs can harbour zoonotic pathogens (p = < 0.001) transmissible during carcass processing. Similarly, significant association was observed between working experience and use of PPE; and between geographical location of the respondents and knowledge that zoonotic pathogens in animals are transmissible during carcass processing or via the food chain.ConclusionThe findings show that slaughter practices of SHWs have detrimental impacts on the quality and safety of meats processed for human consumption in Southeast, Nigeria. These findings underscore the need to: improve the welfare condition of slaughter-animals, mechanise abattoir operations, train and retrain the SHWs on hygienic carcass/meat processing practices. There is a need to adopt strict enforcement of food safety laws to promote meat quality, food safety and consequently promote the health of the public.

Project description:BackgroundPre-slaughter stress (PSS) impairs animal welfare and meat quality. Dark, firm and dry (DFD) are terms used to designate poor quality meats induced by PSS. Protein phosphorylation can be a potentially significant mechanism to explain rapid and multiple physiological and biochemical changes linked to PSS-dependent muscle-to-meat conversion. However, the role of reversible phosphorylation in the response to PSS is still little known. In this study, we report a comparative phosphoproteomic analysis of DFD and normal meats at 24 h post-mortem from the longissimus thoracis (LT) bovine muscle of male calves of the Rubia Gallega breed. For this purpose, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), in-gel multiplex identification of phosphoproteins with PRO-Q Diamond phosphoprotein-specific stain, tandem (MALDI-TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry (MS), novel quantitative phosphoproteomic statistics and bioinformatic tools were used.ResultsNoticeable and statistically significant differences in the extent of protein phosphorylation were detected between sample groups at the qualitative and quantitative levels. Overall phosphorylation rates across significantly changed phosphoproteins were about three times higher in DFD than in normal meat. Significantly changed phosphoproteins involved a variable number of isoforms of 13 myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic nonredundant proteins. However, fast skeletal myosin light chain 2 followed by troponin T, F-actin-capping and small heat shock proteins showed the greatest phosphorylation change, and therefore they were the most important phosphoproteins underlying LT muscle conversion to DFD meat in the Rubia Gallega breed.ConclusionsThis is the first study reporting global meat phosphoproteome changes in response to PSS. The results show that reversible phosphorylation is a relevant mechanism underlying PSS response and downstream effects on meat quality. This research opens up novel horizons to unravel the complex molecular puzzle underlying muscle-to-meat conversion in response to PSS.

Dataset Information

The Impact of Pre-Slaughter Stress on Beef Eating Quality.

Publications

The Impact of Pre-Slaughter Stress on Beef Eating Quality.

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