Meat quality traits in F1 Angus-Nellore cattle feedlot finished and submitted to carcass electrical stimulation

• Grant number: 21/01381-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Otávio Rodrigues Machado Neto
• Grantee: Bianca Torin
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study will be to evaluate the meat quality traits of F1 Angus-Nellore feedlot finished and subjected to carcass electrical stimulation in the slaughter industry. For this purpose, sixty F1 Angus-Nellore cattle (30 non-castrated males and 30 females with average initial weight 350 and 270 kg, respectively) will be used from the same feedlot system and slaughtered in a commercial slaughterhouse. All carcasses will be properly identified, washed and, before cooling, the left half carcass (LHC) of each animal will be subjected to ten electrical stimuli (ES) followed by 120V, 60Hz and 5a. The right half carcass (RHC) of the same animal will not receive ES. Before deboning, the carcasses of all animals will be classified using the BeefScore (BS) platform, which collects several information and predicts the quality of the meat from the consumer's perspective (represented in a quality index from 0 to 100 involving tenderness, flavor, juiciness and general satisfaction). Therefore, the BS platform will be used to collect data on carcass weight, ossification, fatness (score 1-9); conformation (1-5); dental maturity, termite height, P8 (fat thickness on the rump), ribeye area (REA), backfat thickness (BFT), meat color, fat color, marbling score and final pH (48h after slaughter). Subsequently, in the region between the 12th and 13th ribs (Longissimus thoracis - LT) from LHC and RHC, meat samples will be collected to conduct quality physical-chemical analyzes in the laboratory: Shear strength, cooking losses, luminosity, Chroma and Hue, chemical composition and water holding capacity. Additional meat samples will be used in quality sensory tests with the consumer, aiming to study the associations with the data obtained in the laboratory. The data on carcass and meat quality characteristics (physical-chemical and sensory) will be evaluated using a multivariate approach using techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA), regression (PLSR), cluster analysis and multiway models (PARAFAC and Tucker). Is expected that electrical stimulation of the carcasses improves the meat quality traits evaluated in the laboratory and/or from the consumer's perspective. Few studies in the literature have been able to describe such effects in a multifactorial context in male and female F1 Angus-Nellore cattle finished in commercial feedlot.