This study investigated the effect of age at slaughter, pre-rigour carcass suspension and
their interaction on meat quality of longissimus dorsi from Ankole bulls. Ankole bulls (45)
were evenly distributed into three age groups (2, 3 or 5 years). Immediately after
slaughter, carcasses were weighed, halved and sides were either suspended in the Achilles
tendon or pelvic bone until 48 h postmortem. Carcass weights, grades and fat scores
increased (P o 0.001) with increasing age. Pelvic suspended sides had lower (P o0.001)
chilling and cooking loss than Achilles-suspended sides across all age groups. Collagen
solubility decreased (Po 0.001), while shear force increased (P o 0.001) with increasing
age. Pelvic suspension decreased shear force across all age groups and the decrease was
more pronounced in 5 year old bulls. The present study indicates that pelvic suspension is
beneficial in eliminating the age-induced increase in toughness in longissimus thoracis
from Ankole bulls.