Influence of social dominance on production, welfare and the quality of meat from beef bulls.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of social dominance on some indicators of welfare, production and meat quality of young bulls. A total of 60 bulls of the Gasconne breed, 9 months old, housed indoors were used. Indices of success order were calculated to reflect social dominance of each bull into three ranking categories (low, middle and high). Blood samples were taken to measure cortisol, lactate, glucose, creatine kinase, non-esterified fatty acid and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N/L). M. longissimus samples were analysed in terms of pH, water holding capacity (WHC), texture, colour and sensorial attributes. Social rank influenced cattle stress response, which had an effect on productive performance but not on meat quality traits, with the exception of the sensory traits. These results emphasize the importance of implementing best management practices during pre-harvest handling of cattle in order to modulate any possible risk factor for social stress.

Effect of transport time on welfare and meat quality in pigs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of transport duration on some welfare and meat quality parameters. For the study 144 pigs were used. One group of 72 animals was subjected to 15 min and the others to 3 h transport time. Blood from all animals was analysed in order to detect stress-susceptible pigs and assess pre-slaughter stress. Meat quality parameters were analysed from Longissimus thoracis and Semimembranosus muscles. It was concluded that under normal Spanish commercial conditions, pigs subjected to short transport showed a more intense stress response and poorer meat quality than pigs subjected to moderately long transport when they were immediately slaughtered on arrival at the slaughterhouse. Transport of 3 h might have allowed the animals to adapt to transport conditions and then could act as a resting period like a lairage time. The effect of transport time on welfare and meat quality parameters was more important than genotype and sex. Nevertheless, from the point of view of blood enzyme activities, genetically stress susceptible females transported for 3 h were more sensitive to muscle damage.

Influence of carcass weight on instrumental and sensory lamb meat quality in intensive production systems.

The influence of carcass weight (CW) on instrumental and sensory meat quality traits was studied in Rasa Aragonesa lamb carcasses. Forty-six intact male lamb carcasses were divided into three groups: 8.07 (S.D. 0.36) kg (A); 10.22 (S.D. 0.79) kg (B) and 13.42 (S.D. 1.36) kg (C). Results indicate that CW significantly influenced instrumental measurements in all the traits considered, except for waterholding capacity. The weight increase produced higher pH, haem pigment and redness (a (∗)) and lower lightness. Shear values were higher (p ≤ 0.01) in group B. Sensory traits were not influenced by CW with the exception of juiciness. This parameter increased in the order A-B-C, and the subjective colour estimation was darker in groups B and C. The results show that it is possible to produce heavier or lighter lamb carcasses than traditional lamb (Ternasco de Aragón, group B), without significant losses in meat quality. This fact could give flexibility to a system permitting the slaughter weight to be adjusted to variations in seasonal prices.