Carcass and meat quality characteristics of indigenous cattle in Tanzania
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Date
2010
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
EGERTON UNIVERSITY, KENYA .
Abstract
Seventy two Tanzania indigenous cattle (36 Boran steers; 2-3 years old; initial liveweight 225
kg and 36 Tanzania Short Horn Zebu (TSHZ); 3-4 years old; initial liveweight 117 kg) were
randomly allocated to three dietary treatments to study the effects of breed, diet and ageing
time on carcass and meat quality characteristics. Animals were fed three different diets:
grazing alone (Diet 1: control), control + 50 % ad libitum concentrate intake (Diet 2) and ad
libitum hay + ad libitum concentrate intake (Diet 3). The concentrate contained 126 g CP and
13 MJ ME per kg DM. The steers were fattened for 90 days, slaughtered, and carcass and
meat quality assessed. Boran had heavier (P<0.05) empty body weight, carcass weight and
greater rib area than TSHZ (242 vs. 192 kg; 132 vs. 108 kg and 56 vs. 47 cm2). Animals fed
diet 3 had higher (P<0.05) dressing percentage, carcass fat thickness, conformation score and
normal meat colour score (54%; 2 cm; 12; 2.9) followed by Diet 2 (51%; 0.9 cm; 9; 3.7 and
lastly Diet 1 (47%; 0.6 cm; 7; 4.4). In addition, longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle from animals
fed Diet 3 had the lowest (P<0.05) shear force (45 N) indicating very tender meat whereas
LD from animals fed diet 1 had the highest value (60 N) indicating less tender meat.
Increasing post-mortem storage time from 2 up to 20 days decreased (P<0.05) shear force by
65%. It is concluded that both Boran and TSHZ cattle obtained acceptable range of meat
quality values and that tender meat can be produced from indigenous cattle through feedlot
finishing and post-mortem storage at refrigerated temperatures
Description
Paper to be presented during the 5th Research week and International Conference
to be held on, –22nd – 24th September, 2010 at EGERTON UNIVERSITY,
KENYA .
* Corresponding Author: Mwilawa, A.J (PhD Student) (Ajmwilawa@yahoo.com)
Tel +255-787-892240
Keywords
Cattle, Diets, Ageing time, Feedlot, Meat parameters, Carcass parameter, Toughness,