Effect of reduced lairage duration on beef quality

D. M. Ferguson; F. D. Shaw; J. L. Stark

doi:10.1071/EA05212

RESEARCH FRONT (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 47(7)

Effect of reduced lairage duration on beef quality

D. M. Ferguson ^A ^B ^E ^F , F. D. Shaw ^A ^C and J. L. Stark ^A ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality.

^B CSIRO Livestock Industries F. D. McMaster Laboratory, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.

^C PO Box 10, Cannon Hill, Qld 4170, Australia.

^D Food Science Australia, Cannon Hill, Qld 4170, Australia.

^E Present address: Locked Bag 1, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.

^F Corresponding author. Email: drewe.ferguson@csiro.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(7) 770-773 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA05212
Submitted: 11 April 2005 Accepted: 4 January 2006 Published: 2 July 2007

Abstract

A study involving two groups of feedlot cattle (n = 84 and 112) was undertaken to compare the effect of two preslaughter lairage (L) durations (3 h v. 18 h) on carcass and meat quality properties. The cattle were grainfed for 150 days before slaughter and had a mean carcass weight of 347.0 ± 25.4 kg. Cattle from the same feedlot pen were randomly allocated to the two treatments on the day before slaughter. One group was transported to the abattoir the day before slaughter and held overnight (L–18 h) whereas the other group remained at the feedlot and was transported the following morning and remained in the lairage for 3 h before slaughter (L–3 h). After slaughter, meat quality was evaluated on a subset of 15 carcasses/lairage treatment from the two slaughter groups. Objective meat quality measures were made on unaged and 14-day-aged striploins (longissimus lumborum) from these carcasses. Cattle from the reduced lairage treatment had heavier bled bodyweights at slaughter (P < 0.05) but there was no effect (P > 0.05) on carcass weight, muscle glycogen concentration, pH_3h, ultimate pH, shear force or Minolta lightness values. Significant interactions (P < 0.05) between lairage duration and aging were observed for cooking loss percentage and Minolta a^* and b^* values but these were relatively small in magnitude. There were no differences in the incidence of ingesta contamination or rumen rupture between the lairage treatments. It was concluded that shortening holding times in lairage from 18 to 3 h for cattle that have travelled <6 h would not affect carcass or beef quality.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the CRC for Cattle and Beef Quality. We are also extremely grateful for the support and cooperation of staff from the Northern Australian Pastoral Company and Valley Beef Abattoir. The technical assistance of Donna Knox is gratefully acknowledged.

References

Anon. (2001) ‘Standing committee on agriculture and resource management model code of practice for the welfare of animals – livestock at slaughtering establishments.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Chan TM, Exton JH (1976) A rapid method for the determination of glycogen content and radioactivity in small quantities of tissue or isolated hepatocytes. Analytical Biochemistry 71, 96–105.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |

Fabiansson S, Erichsen I, Reutersward AL (1984) The incidence of dark cutting beef in Sweden. Meat Science 10, 21–33.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Ferguson DM, Bruce HL, Thompson JM, Egan AF, Perry D, Shorthose WR (2001) Factors affecting beef palatability – farmgate to chilled carcass. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 41, 879–891.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Gracey JF , Collins DS , Huey RJ (1999) ‘Meat hygiene.’ 10th edn. (WB Saunders Company Ltd: London)

Jeremiah LE, Newman JA, Tong AKW, Gibson LL (1988a) The effects of castration, pre-slaughter stress and Zeranol implants on beef: 1. The texture of loin steaks from bovine males. Meat Science 22, 83–101.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Jeremiah LE, Newman JA, Tong AKW, Gibson LL (1988b) The effects of castration, pre-slaughter stress and Zeranol implants on beef: 2. Cooking properties and flavour of loin steaks from bovine males. Meat Science 22, 103–121.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Jones SDM, Newman JA, Tong AKW, Martin AH, Robertson WM (1986) The effects of two shipping treatments on the carcass characteristics of bulls implanted with Zeranol and unimplanted steers. Journal of Animal Science 62, 1602–1608.
| PubMed |

McVeigh JM, Tarrant PV (1982) Glycogen content and repletion rates in beef muscle, effect of feeding and fasting. The Journal of Nutrition 112, 1306–1314.
| PubMed |

Noll F (1985) L-(+)-lactate determination. In ‘Methods of enzymatic analysis’. Vol. 8. (Ed. HU Bergmeyer) pp. 582–588. (VCH Verlagsgesellschaft: Weinheim)

Perry D, Shorthose WR, Ferguson DM, Thompson JM (2001) Methods used in the CRC program for the determination of carcass yield and beef quality. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 41, 953–958.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Pethick DW, Cummins L, Gardner GE, Knee BW, McDowell M, McIntyre BL, Tudor G, Walker PJ, Warner RD (1999) The regulation by nutrition of glycogen in the muscle of ruminants. Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition in Australia 12, 145–152.

Purchas RW (1992) Does reducing pre-slaughter holding time to four hours decrease the incidence of dark-cutting beef? In ‘Proceedings of the 27th meat industry research conference. Hamilton, New Zealand’. pp. 107.

Purchas RW, Burnham DL, Morris ST (2002) Effects of growth potential and growth path on tenderness of beef longissimus muscle from bulls and steers. Journal of Animal Science 80, 3211–3221.
| PubMed |

Tarrant PV (1989) Animal behaviour and environment in the dark-cutting condition. In ‘Dark-cutting in cattle and sheep’. (Eds SU Fabiansson, WR Shorthose, RD Warner) pp. 8–18. (Australian Meat and Livestock Research and Development Corporation: Sydney)

Wythes JR , Shorthose WR (1984) ‘Marketing cattle: its effects on liveweight, carcases and meat quality.’ Australian Meat Research Corporation review No. 46. (Australian Meat Research Corporation: Sydney)

Wythes JR, Smith PC, Arthur RJ, Round PJ (1984) Feeding cattle at abattoirs: the effect on carcass attributes and muscle pH. Animal Production in Australia 15, 643–646.