Woody breast (WB) myopathy affected meat has a tough texture, higher cook loss, and decreased water holding capacity (WHC), and thus lower consumer acceptability. The WB meat can be ground and further converted into further processed products or frozen, stored, and shipped to further processors. Freezing and thawing of ground WB meat may further affect the quality of WB meat products. Hence, research is required to determine the effect of pre-blended phosphates on the quality of ground WB meat as well as its cryoprotective effect during frozen storage. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of pre-blended phosphate levels on meat quality in WB and normal breast (NB) fillets before and after freezing. NB fillets and severely affected WB fillets were procured from a local commercial processor. The meat was separated into various treatment groups according to the sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) inclusion levels (0, 0.25, and 0.5% w/w). The meat was ground with respective phosphate treatments and subdivided into vacuum-sealed bags (n = 240; 1 kg each). Half of the bags (n = 120) from each treatment were taken for meat quality analysis, while the other bags were placed in a freezer (−18 °C) for 6 days. Fresh samples were analyzed within 6–8 h while the frozen samples were thawed for 18 h at 4°C prior to analysis. Samples (n = 10) were analyzed for gel strength, pH, color (L* a* b*), proximate composition, and randomly selected samples (n = 5) were analyzed for aerobic plate count (APC). Experiments were repeated in two separate replications and the data was analyzed using the Proc Glimmix model procedure in SAS (v. 9.4) (Cary, NC, USA) with LSMeans Separation at p ≤ 0.05. The gel strength (g) of the fresh ground NB meat (883.7 g) was higher than the gel strength of woody meat (720.8 g) with 0% phosphate (p ≤ 0.05). Addition of phosphate (0.25 and 0.5%) significantly increased the gel strength of fresh woody meat but it was significantly lower than NB meat added with 0.25 and 0.5% phosphate treatment. After freezing, ground NB meat samples with 0.25 and 0.5% phosphate had higher gel strength compared to fresh and frozen ground WB meat (p ≤ 0.05). Pre-blended STPP raised the pH in all treatments (p < 0.05). Treatments did not have any clear impact on APC of ground WB or NB meat. Addition of pre-blended sodium tripolyphosphate increases the functionality of fresh and frozen ground WB meat, as well as NB meat.

The objective of this study was to validate the shelf-life of marinated and frozen chicken tenderloins. Treatments were randomly assigned to the age of the tenderloins post-harvest, days aged (DA): DA4, DA5, DA6, DA7, and DA8. Microbial analyses were used to analyze the growth of aerobic, psychotropic, and lactobacilli bacteria to assess the shelf-life of bulk-packaged chicken tenderloins. Tenderloins were sampled fresh, then vacuum tumbled in a marinade. After marination, the tenderloins were sampled with the remaining tenderloins packaged and frozen (−25 °C). After freezing the chicken tenderloins were slacked in a refrigerated cooler (2.2 °C) for up to 132 h (h) and sampled at 36 h, then every 24 h following. After marination, each treatment significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in aerobic and psychotropic counts except DA4. During slacking, no treatment crossed the threshold of 106 CFU/mL (Log 6) set for this study. Though none crossed the threshold, treatments DA4, DA5, and DA6 had significant (p < 0.05) increases in aerobic bacteria after 7 days of age. The psychotropic bacteria continuously grew at each sampling period, with DA4 and DA5 surpassing the other treatments (p < 0.05) at 108 h and 132 h reaching 105 CFU/mL. Every treatment remained below the spoilage threshold, suggesting that this method of storage is suitable for chicken tenderloin shelf-life.

Hempseed meal is byproduct of hemp oil production and is relatively high in fiber, fat, and protein, making it a potential feedstuff for ruminants. However, the impact this new byproduct could have on meat characteristics is unknown. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of HSM on fresh and cooked characteristics of Spanish meat goat retail cuts. Forty Boer crossbred castrated male goats were randomly allocated to one of four diets (n = 10; 0, 10, 20 or 30%) containing HSM which originated from the manufacturing industry of hemp oil. Goats were provided 2 kg of diet daily that contained varying levels of HSM in addition to ad-libitum access to water throughout the study. Following a 60-day feeding period goats were harvested at the Lambert-Powell Meats Laboratory located at Auburn University. After chilling for 12 h at 0°C, carcass measurements were collected prior to carcass fabrication. Goat carcasses were fabricated into wholesale cuts of the shoulder, rack, loin and leg. Paired loins and legs were sliced into 2.54-cm-thick chops, vacuum packaged, and assigned to cook yield, instrumental fresh color, and instrumental tenderness and frozen at -23°C until all laboratory analysis could be completed. The use of HSM did not alter cooking yield in either the goat loin or leg chop (P &gt; 0.05) regardless of inclusion percentage within the diet. Furthermore, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) did not differ (P &gt; 0.05) with increasing inclusion rates of HSM for either the loin or leg chops. Instrumental color for lightness (L*) or yellowness (b*) did not differ (P &gt; 0.05) across diet treatments for either the loin or leg chops. These findings suggest that the inclusion of HSM within the diet of Boer cross goats did not alter fresh or cooked meat characteristics in either the loin or leg chops.

Mangalica pigs are a popular niche breed given their reputation for superior quality pork. However, growth and carcass parameters for this breed are poorly documented. Our objective was to better characterize optimal harvest weights for the Mangalica breed. To accomplish this, a growth trial was conducted whereby pigs (n=56) were randomly distributed across stratified harvest weights (50, 57, 68, 82, 93, 102, 127 kg) in a completely randomized design. Pigs were fed standard finisher rations with individual daily feed intakes and weekly body weights recorded for all animals. At 24h postmortem, carcasses were split and ribbed with marbling and loin eye area (LEA) measured at the 10th rib. Primal cuts were fabricated and individually weighed. Fat back was separated from the loin and weighed. As expected, live weight significantly increased across weight class (P &lt; 0.0001). ADG was similar across classes up to 82 kg live weight before steadily declining with increasing weight class (P &lt; 0.0025). Likewise, feed efficiency did not differ between classes until weights heavier than 82 kg (P &lt; 0.03). LEA significantly increased by class up to 82 kg and then plateaued as harvest weight increased further (P &lt; 0.003). Marbling score significantly increased with increasing weight class up to 102 kg where they then plateaued (p &lt; 0.04). Fat back dramatically increased across all weight classes (p &lt; 0.0001) despite negligible increases in LEA or marbling after 102 kg. Primal cut weights for the ham (P &lt; 0.0001), loin (P &lt; 0.0001), Boston butt (P &lt; 0.0001), shoulder (P &lt; 0.0001), and belly (P &lt; 0.0001) all significantly increased with increasing live weight. These data suggest an optimal harvest weight occurs between 82 to 102 kg while offering little objective justification for the current practice of harvesting Mangalica pigs at much heavier live weights.

No abstract