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Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 49570

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gen Kaneko

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College of Natural and Applied Science, University of Houston-Victoria, Victoria, TX 77901, USA
Interests: fish meat products; energy metabolism; lipid distribution; seafood safety; nuclear magnetic resonance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Meat quality is closely associated with metabolism and the chemical composition of skeletal muscle and is therefore influenced by various pre-mortem factors, such as nutrition, diet level, age, and environmental temperature. In this Special Issue of Foods, we encourage the submission of manuscripts related to the impact of pre-mortem factors on meat quality. Genetic background (e.g., interstrain difference, natural and engineered mutations) is also considered to be a pre-mortem factor. Reexamination of published data using computational or statistical approaches is acceptable as long as the study is original and of a high scientific quality. We invite both original research and review articles, but manuscripts related to post-mortem factors (e.g., processing method, storage condition) do not meet the scope of this Special Issue.

While we are interested in all kinds of meat products, we particularly welcome the submission of manuscripts dealing with fish because of its diverse metabolic features. Identification of novel pre-mortem factors that influence fish meat quality will contribute to optimizing their culture conditions, leading to the development of value-added products. Such basic research will enhance the economic value of fish, making it a promising protein source for humans in the present era of food security concerns.

We are also interested in applied research. For example, nutrition is undoubtedly an important pre-mortem factor to regulate the chemical composition of skeletal muscle. Thus, supplementing diets with specific nutrients has been a simple and effective strategy to enhance the nutritional properties of beef, pork, chicken, fish, and other meat products. We also believe that the production of new enriched meat products using well-established methods also constitutes a valuable contribution to meat science, and research on this topic is welcome.

With the contribution of your high-quality papers from biological and engineering perspectives, we believe that this Special Issue will represent a crucial milestone in meat science.

Prof. Gen Kaneko
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

diet
culture condition
meat quality
metabolism
nutrition
pre-mortem factors
temperature
value-added products

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

3 pages, 183 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality: An Update

by Gen Kaneko

Foods 2021, 10(11), 2749; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112749 - 10 Nov 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1683

Abstract

Meat quality is closely associated with the chemical composition of skeletal muscle and is therefore influenced by the pre-mortem metabolic state of skeletal muscle tissue [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

12 pages, 810 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Effect of Dietary Protein, Ractopamine, and Immunocastration on Boar Taint Compounds, and Using Testicle Parameters as an Indicator of Success

by Tersia Needham, Rob M. Gous, Helet Lambrechts, Elsje Pieterse and Louwrens C. Hoffman

Foods 2020, 9(11), 1665; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111665 - 14 Nov 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2616

Abstract

This study investigates the combined effect of immunocastration, dietary protein level (low, medium or high) and ractopamine hydrochloride supplementation (0 or 10 mg/kg) on the adipose concentrations of androstenone, skatole and indole in pigs, and explores whether body mass, carcass fatness or testicular parameters may be indicators of boar taint in these carcasses. Immunocastration was successful in decreasing testicle functioning, and adipose androstenone and skatole concentrations, in all individuals. Immunocastration decreased testicle weight and length, seminiferous tubule circumference and epithelium thickness. Testicle tissue from immunocastrates was also paler, and less red in color, in comparison to non-castrated controls. Dietary protein level and ractopamine hydrochloride supplementation had no influence on the adipose concentration of androstenone, skatole and indole. Testicle size and color were moderate to strong indicators of androstenone and skatole concentrations in the carcasses, and thus vaccination success. Immunocastration together with the adjustment of dietary protein and ractopamine hydrochloride supplementation, is successful in preventing boar taint while maintaining growth performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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13 pages, 1780 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Value-Added Carp Products: Multi-Class Evaluation of Crisp Grass Carp by Machine Learning-Based Analysis of Blood Indexes

by Bing Fu, Gen Kaneko, Jun Xie, Zhifei Li, Jingjing Tian, Wangbao Gong, Kai Zhang, Yun Xia, Ermeng Yu and Guangjun Wang

Foods 2020, 9(11), 1615; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111615 - 6 Nov 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2549

Abstract

Crisp grass carp products from China are becoming more prevalent in the worldwide fish market because muscle hardness is the primary desirable characteristic for consumer satisfaction of fish fillet products. Unfortunately, current instrumental methods to evaluate muscle hardness are expensive, time-consuming, and wasteful. This study sought to develop classification models for differentiating the muscle hardness of crisp grass carp on the basis of blood analysis. Out of the total 264 grass carp samples, 12 outliers from crisp grass carp group were removed based on muscle hardness (<9 N), and the remaining 252 samples were used for the analysis of seven blood indexes including hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH/GSSH), red blood cells (RBC), platelet count (PLT), and lymphocytes (LY). Furthermore, six machine learning models were applied to predict the muscle hardness of grass carp based on the training (152) and testing (100) datasets obtained from the blood analysis: random forest (RF), naïve Bayes (NB), gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), support vector machine (SVM), partial least squares regression (PLSR), and artificial neural network (ANN). The RF model exhibited the best prediction performance with a classification accuracy of 100%, specificity of 93.08%, and sensitivity of 100% for discriminating crisp grass carp muscle hardness, followed by the NB model (93.75% accuracy, 91.83% specificity, and 94% sensitivity), whereas the ANN model had the lowest prediction performance (85.42% accuracy, 81.05% specificity, and 85% sensitivity). These machine learning methods provided objective, cheap, fast, and reliable classification for in vivo crisp grass carp and also prove useful for muscle quality evaluation of other freshwater fish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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15 pages, 542 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Algae or Insect Supplementation as Alternative Protein Sources on the Volatile Profile of Chicken Meat

by Vasiliki Gkarane, Marco Ciulu, Brianne A. Altmann, Armin O. Schmitt and Daniel Mörlein

Foods 2020, 9(9), 1235; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9091235 - 4 Sep 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4963

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the volatile profile of meat from chickens fed with alternative protein diets (such as algae or insect) through two different trials. In Trial 1, broiler chicken at one day of age were randomly allocated to three experimental groups: a basal control diet (C) and two groups in which the soybean meal was replaced at 75% (in the starter phase) and 50% (in the grower phase) with partially defatted Hermetia illucens (HI) larvae or Arthrospira platensis (SP). In Trial 2, broiler chickens were housed and reared similar to Trial 1, with the exception that the experimental diets replaced soybean meal with either 100% partially defatted HI or 100% SP. In both trials, chickens were slaughtered at day 35. Per group, 10 chickens were submitted to volatile analysis by using solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Results in both trials showed that levels of several lipid-derived compounds were found to be lower in chickens fed an HI diet, which could be linked to a possibly lower level of polyunsaturated fatty acid content in HI-fed chicken. In addition, the dietary treatments could be discriminated based on the volatile profile, i.e., the substitution of soy with HI or SP distinctively affected the levels of flavor compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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10 pages, 272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Proximate Composition, Amino Acid Profile, and Oxidative Stability of Slow-Growing Indigenous Chickens Compared with Commercial Broiler Chickens

by Antonella Dalle Zotte, Elizabeth Gleeson, Daniel Franco, Marco Cullere and José Manuel Lorenzo

Foods 2020, 9(5), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9050546 - 1 May 2020

Cited by 43 | Viewed by 4349

Abstract

The increased demand for chicken meat products has led to chickens with increased growth rates and heavier slaughter weights. This has had unintentional negative effects on the genetics of these animals, such as spontaneous, idiopathic muscle abnormalities. There has also been a shift in customer preference towards products from alternative farming systems such as organic and free-range. Indigenous purebred chickens, such as the Polverara, show potential in these systems as they are adapted to more extensive systems. The aim of the present study was to characterize the meat quality traits of the Polverara, by comparing the proximate composition and amino acid profile with that of a commercial Hybrid. In addition, the lipid and protein oxidation was analyzed after eight days of storage. A total of 120 leg meat samples, 60 Polverara and 60 Hybrid were analyzed. Polverara exhibited higher protein content, lower lipid content, and a better amino acid profile. These results indicate that the Polverara has better nutritional meat quality. However, Polverara also showed higher levels of lipid and protein oxidation. Therefore, further research is needed, especially in regards to the fatty acid profile and mineral content of the meat, which is known to affect oxidative stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

15 pages, 1777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Various Statistical Approaches to Assess and Predict Carcass and Meat Quality Traits

by Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury, Jean-François Hocquette, Sghaier Chriki, Alexandre Conanec, Linda Farmer, Marie Chavent and Jérôme Saracco

Foods 2020, 9(4), 525; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040525 - 22 Apr 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5007

Abstract

The beef industry is organized around different stakeholders, each with their own expectations, sometimes antagonistic. This article first outlines these differing perspectives. Then, various optimization models that might integrate all these expectations are described. The final goal is to define practices that could increase value for animal production, carcasses and meat whilst simultaneously meeting the main expectations of the beef industry. Different models previously developed worldwide are proposed here. Two new computational methodologies that allow the simultaneous selection of the best regression models and the most interesting covariates to predict carcass and/or meat quality are developed. Then, a method of variable clustering is explained that is accurate in evaluating the interrelationships between different parameters of interest. Finally, some principles for the management of quality trade-offs are presented and the Meat Standards Australia model is discussed. The “Pareto front” is an interesting approach to deal jointly with the different sets of expectations and to propose a method that could optimize all expectations together. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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19 pages, 944 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Rearing System on the Straight and Branched Fatty Acids of Goat Milk and Meat of Suckling Kids

by Guillermo Ripoll, María Jesús Alcalde, Anastasio Argüello, María de Guía Córdoba and Begoña Panea

Foods 2020, 9(4), 471; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9040471 - 9 Apr 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3566

Abstract

Goat meat is considered healthy because it has fewer calories and fat than meat from other traditional meat species. It is also rich in branched chain fatty acids that have health advantages when consumed. We studied the effects of maternal milk and milk replacers fed to suckling kids of four breeds on the straight and branched fatty acid compositions of their muscle. In addition, the proximal and fatty acid compositions of colostrum and milk were studied. Goat colostrum had more protein and fat and less lactose than milk. Goat milk is an important source of healthy fatty acids such as C18:1 c9 and C18:2 n–6. Suckling kid meat was also an important source of C18:1c9. Dairy goat breeds had higher percentages of trans monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and most of the C18:1 isomers but lower amounts of total MUFAs than meat breeds. However, these dairy kids had meat with a lower percentage of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than meat kids. The meat of kids fed natural milk had higher amounts of CLA and branched chain fatty acids (BCFAs) and lower amounts of n–6 fatty acids than kids fed milk replacers. Both milk and meat are a source of linoleic, α-linolenic, docosahexaenoic, eicosapentaenoic and arachidonic fatty acids, which are essential fatty acids and healthy long-chain fatty acids. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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15 pages, 566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Photoperiod Regime on Meat Quality, Oxidative Stability, and Metabolites of Postmortem Broiler Fillet (M. Pectoralis major) Muscles

by Jacob R. Tuell, Jun-Young Park, Weichao Wang, Bruce Cooper, Tiago Sobreira, Heng-Wei Cheng and Yuan H. Brad Kim

Foods 2020, 9(2), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9020215 - 19 Feb 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3234

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of photoperiod on meat quality, oxidative stability, and metabolites of broiler fillet (M. Pectoralis major) muscles. A total of 432 broilers was split among 4 photoperiod treatments [hours light(L):dark(D)]: 20L:4D, 18L:6D, 16L:8D, and 12L:12D. At 42 days, a total of 48 broilers (12 broilers/treatment) was randomly selected and harvested. At 1 day postmortem, fillet muscles were dissected and displayed for 7 days. No considerable impacts of photoperiods on general carcass and meat quality attributes, such as carcass weight, yield, pH, water-holding capacity, and shear force, were found (p > 0.05). However, color and oxidative stability were influenced by the photoperiod, where muscles from 20L:4D appeared lighter and more discolored, coupled with higher lipid oxidation (p < 0.05) and protein denaturation (p = 0.058) compared to 12L:12D. The UPLC–MS metabolomics identified that 20 metabolites were different between the 20L:4D and 12L:12D groups, and 15 were tentatively identified. In general, lower aromatic amino acids/dipeptides, and higher oxidized glutathione and guanine/methylated guanosine were observed in 20L:4D. These results suggest that a photoperiod would result in no considerable impact on initial meat quality, but extended photoperiods might negatively impact oxidative stability through an alteration of the muscle metabolites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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15 pages, 860 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of the Use of Milk Replacers and pH on the Texture Profiles of Raw and Cooked Meat of Suckling Kids

by Guillermo Ripoll, María J. Alcalde, María G. Córdoba, Rocío Casquete, Anastasio Argüello, Santiago Ruiz-Moyano and Begoña Panea

Foods 2019, 8(11), 589; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8110589 - 19 Nov 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3505

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the texture profile of fresh and cooked longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle from suckling kids raised with natural milk or milk replacers. Suckling male kids from eight goat breeds (Florida, FL; Cabra del Guadarrama, GU; Majorera, MA; Palmera, PL; Payoya, PY; Retinta, RE; Tinerfeña, TI; Verata, VE), all of single parturition, were raised with milk replacers (MR) or with natural milk from the dams (NM). The meat pH, Warner-Bratzler shear force, texture profile analysis and chemical composition were determined. Kids were clustered based on their pH by k-means clustering. The effect of the rearing system on the textural profile was strongly modulated by breed. The values of Warner-Bratzler shear force and hardness found in these breeds under both rearing systems were very low. Hence, the toughness of very light suckling kids should not be a determining factor in choosing a breed or rearing system. Nevertheless, the use of milk replacers increased the presence of meat with high pH, which modified the textural parameters, decreasing the shear force but increasing cohesiveness and adhesiveness. Consequently, depending on the commercial strategy of the farm, the election of the breed and rearing system must be considered together. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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13 pages, 1770 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dietary Supplementation of Tannin-Extracts to Lambs: Effects on Meat Fatty Acids Composition and Stability and on Microbial Characteristics

by Luisa Biondi, Cinzia L. Randazzo, Nunziatina Russo, Alessandra Pino, Antonio Natalello, Koenraad Van Hoorde and Cinzia Caggia

Foods 2019, 8(10), 469; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8100469 - 10 Oct 2019

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3570

Abstract

Two extracts derived from plant material rich in hydrolysable (Tara, T; Caesalpinia spinosa) or condensed (Mimosa, M; Acacia mearnsii) tannins were added to lamb’s diet and their effects on meat quality and on microbial population were evaluated; a diet without tannins represented the Control (C). Meat pH, vitamin E, intramuscular fat content and muscle fatty acid composition were determined. Oxidative stability and microbiological analyses were performed on meat samples after 0, 4 and 7 days of refrigerated storage. Psychrotrophic bacteria were identified through MALDI-TOF MS analysis. Regarding meat fatty acids, Tara treatment decreased the percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids. The counts of all microbial groups were similar among dietary treatments at day 0, while a significant reduction of microbial loads was observed in T-group at day 7. Pseudomonas fluorescens group count was significantly affected by T extract supplementation. The MALDI-TOF MS identification revealed the dominance of Pseudomonas fragi species in all samples while Pseudomonas lundensis, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Candida famata were revealed only in control ones. In conclusions, the tannin extract supplementation is a promising dietary strategy to preserve lamb meat quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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Review

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24 pages, 982 KiB

Open AccessReview

Diet and Genetics Influence Beef Cattle Performance and Meat Quality Characteristics

by Felista W. Mwangi, Edward Charmley, Christopher P. Gardiner, Bunmi S. Malau-Aduli, Robert T. Kinobe and Aduli E. O. Malau-Aduli

Foods 2019, 8(12), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8120648 - 6 Dec 2019

Cited by 77 | Viewed by 12639

Abstract

A comprehensive review of the impact of tropical pasture grazing, nutritional supplementation during feedlot finishing and fat metabolism-related genes on beef cattle performance and meat-eating traits is presented. Grazing beef cattle on low quality tropical forages with less than 5.6% crude protein, 10% soluble starches and 55% digestibility experience liveweight loss. However, backgrounding beef cattle on high quality leguminous forages and feedlot finishing on high-energy diets increase meat flavour, tenderness and juiciness due to improved intramuscular fat deposition and enhanced mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This paper also reviews the roles of stearoyl-CoA desaturase, fatty acid binding protein 4 and fatty acid synthase genes and correlations with meat traits. The review argues that backgrounding of beef cattle on Desmanthus, an environmentally well-adapted and vigorous tropical legume that can persistently survive under harsh tropical and subtropical conditions, has the potential to improve animal performance. It also identifies existing knowledge gaps and research opportunities in nutrition-genetics interactions aimed at a greater understanding of grazing nutrition, feedlot finishing performance, and carcass traits of northern Australian tropical beef cattle to enable red meat industry players to work on marbling, juiciness, tenderness and overall meat-eating characteristics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Pre-Mortem Factors on Meat Quality)

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