R. Valusso

Carcass quality in male fallow deer (Dama dama): effects of age and supplementary feeding

Thirty-two male fallow deer, half 18- and half 30-month-old, were slaughtered after a 4-month feeding trial on pasture alone or with daily supplement of 500 g (dry matter) concentrate/head (eight each 18- and 30-month-old). The concentrate was composed of 40% maize, 25% sugar beet pulp, 20% alfalfa, 13% soy flakes, 2% minerals and vitamins. Supplemented deer were heavier (49.9 vs 45.0 kg) and their carcasses produced higher dressing proportions (61.5 vs 57.2%) and bigger amounts of first quality cuts. Supplemented feeding improved muscle development and fat deposition. Thirty-month-olds were heavier than 18-month-olds (53.3 vs 41.6 kg) and their carcasses produced higher dressing proportions (60.9 vs 57.7%) and bigger amounts of first quality cuts; older deer carcasses showed better conformation and bigger amounts of fat deposition.

Fatty acid composition and sensory properties of Italian Simmental beef as affected by gene frequency of Montbéliarde origin.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Montbéliarde (Mb) gene frequency on fatty acid composition and sensory properties of Italian Simmental (IS) steaks (longissimus thoracis m.). Twenty-seven bulls belonging to three strains with different percentages of Mb genes: traditional (ISt), without Mb ascendants (ISt=0% Mb genes), cross-strain (ISmt=37.5-50% Mb genes), Montbéliarde strain (ISm=87.5-100% Mb genes) and balanced for stearoyl Co-A desaturase genotype were considered. ISt has the highest C20:4 n-6 (P<0.01), C22:4 n-6 (P<0.05) and total PUFA n-3 level (P<0.01), while ISt and ISmt have higher C18:3 n-3 (P<0.05) and slightly lower MUFA (P=0.08) than ISm. Sensory tests indicated that the three experimental groups can be differentiated; moreover, ISmt meat is perceived as less hard (P<0.01), less chewable (P<0.01) and less fibrous (P<0.05) than ISt meat.

Quality of Italian Istrian Milk lamb meat. Influence of carcass weight and feeding system

Abstract The Istrian Milk sheep is an endangered breed of the Pramenka group raised in the North-Adriatic Karst region. Carcass and meat characteristics of 46 suckling, 6- to 14- week-old intact male light lambs from two feeding systems were analysed. Thirty-two lambs were raised in a flock fed only with forage (hay supplied in stall during winter or fresh herbage directly grazed during the other seasons). The lambs had free access to the forage supplied to their dams (feeding system: milk and forage; MF). The other fourteen suckling ovine were grown on a farm with a feeding system incorporating a concentrated supply of the forage base. The lambs were stabled and creep fed on a concentrate (20% CP) at a daily rate of 100 g/head, in addition to the suckled milk (feeding system: milk and concentrate; MC). The carcasses were divided into three categories of weight, following the Community scale of light lambs classification: A (≤7 kg, n=17), B (7.1 - 10 kg, n=15) and C (10.1 - 13 kg, n=14). The frequency of 1st quality carcasses increased with carcass weight, reaching 100% in category C. On average, 72% of the carcasses were scored as 1st quality, without significant differences between feeding systems. The lightness of lamb meat from A carcasses was higher than that from the heaviest ones. Cooking losses showed a pattern opposite to that of pH (mean 5.44; SE 0.058), increasing where pH decreased (categories A and B and concentrate-fed lambs). Shear force values were significantly affected by factors linked to the feeding system; in fact, MC lambs provided more tender meat than MF ones (32.6 vs 46.6 N). As carcass weight increased, moisture concentration decreased steadily (from 77.8% to 75.5%), while lipid content increased progressively (from 1.58% to 3.14%). In agreement with these patterns, the contribution of individual fatty acids (FA) to muscle weight generally increased with carcass weight. A similar trend was observed for the relative concentration of saturated FA and monounsaturated FA, while that of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) showed an opposite evolution. The feeding system modified the relationship between ω3 and ω6 PUFA series: with respect to MC meat, MF meat presented a higher content of linolenic acid and its long chain ω3 derivatives and a lower content of linoleic acid and its major product, arachidonic acid. As a consequence, MF lambs furnished meat with a ω3/ω6 ratio and an index of thrombogenicity more favourable for human health than those from MC lambs.

Quality differences in cheeses produced by lowland and highland units of the Alpine transhumant system

Riassunto Differenze qualitative di formaggi prodotti a fondovalle e in alpeggio nell’ambito del sistema transumante alpino. I sistemi transumanti alpini utilizzano foraggi di fondovalle d’inverno e pascoli d’estate. Il latte prodotto da 2 gruppi omogenei di 25 bovine Pezzate Rosse Italiane, allevate rispettivamente in fondovalle e in alpeggio, è stato caseificato separatamente per 3 giorni consecutivi nel mese di luglio. Sui formaggi, stagionati per 3 mesi, sono state condotte analisi chimiche, reologiche, sensoriali e dei composti aromatici. I risultati hanno evidenziato differenze tra i due tipi di formaggio in termini di composizione chimica, caratteristiche sensoriali e componenti aromatiche.

Effect of ageing time on consumer-perceived quality of Italian Simmental beef

Abstract The aim of the experiment was to provide an objective indication on the optimal ageing time of meat from Italian Simmental (IS) young bulls, the most important commercial category of the breed. The research was carried out on 10 young bulls slaughtered at the average weight of 688 kg (SE: 7.3 kg). The right side of each carcass was stored for 7 days and the left one for further 7 days, at normal refrigeration temperatures. At the end of the ageing period, the sides were sampled at the loin for meat pH, color, cooking loss and shear force measurement. A central location, affective test involving 74 consumers was carried out to measure the degree of liking for grilled beef aged 7 or 14 days. The pH and color parameters were not significantly affected by the duration of post-mortem storage, while cooking loss increased (31.4 vs 32.6 %; P<0.05) and shear force values diminished (56.7 vs 46.8 N; P< 0.01) when ageing time increased from 7 to 14 days. The degree of liking by the untrained respondents for the two types of cooked meat was different, considering that consumers gave the highest hedonistic scores to beef aged 14 days. Tenderness was the sensory attribute that allowed the best discrimination between beef stored for periods of different length. In fact, while the difference between 14-day-aged and 7-day-aged beef for flavour ratings (7.0 vs 6.9) did not reach the threshold of significance, the former meat was perceived as significantly finer than the latter regarding tenderness (6.5 vs 5.6; P= 0.01) and marginally preferred in overall terms (6.9 vs 6.5; P= 0.07). The classification test, carried out at the end of the quantitative test by asking consumers to select from a list the most appropriate attributes describing the stimuli associated with meat consumption, confirmed the effectiveness of texture attributes in ranking different-aged beef acceptability. In fact, the number of ticks reported for chewiness and juiciness descriptors were different for the two types of meat: the 14-day-aged beef was perceived as easier to chew (57 vs 34 ticks) and juicier (42 vs 24) than the shortest-aged beef. Ageing for 14 days should be recommended as a process control point for the beef industry to improve consumer acceptance of IS young bull beef.

Sensory quality of meat from lambs fed on different diets

Riassunto Qualità sensoriale della carne di agnelli alimentati con diete differenti. Sono state sottoposte ad analisi sensoriale le carni di agnelli di razza Gentile di Puglia alimentati per sei settimane, dall’età di circa 50 giorni, con tre mangimi completi bilanciati: il primo contenente farina di estrazione di soia (Soia), il secondo farina integrale di lupino al 25% (Lupino), il terzo buccetta d’uva al 25% (Buccetta). E’ stato eseguito un panel test su campioni di l. dorsi cucinati in un forno a 120°C sino al raggiungimento di una temperatura di 68-70°C all’interno del campione. Il profilo sensoriale ha considerato nove descrittori della tessitura e del flavour. La tesi Lupino rispetto a quella Soia non ha mostrato differenze significative rispetto all’odore di “Pecora” e di “Fegato”, alla “Grassezza ed alla “Succosità” anche se un giudizio globale richiede ulteriori indagini. Validi nel loro insieme i risultati sulla tesi Buccetta.