Brahman and Brahman crossbred cattle grown on pasture and in feedlots in subtropical and temperate Australia. 2. Meat quality and palatability

Abstract

Abstract. Market demand for a reliable supply of beef of consistently high eating quality led the Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Industry (Meat Quality) to initiate a crossbreeding progeny test program to quantify objective and sensory meat quality differences between straightbred and first-cross Brahman cattle. Brahman, Belmont Red, Santa Gertrudis, Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Charolais and Limousin sires were mated to Brahman females over 3 years to produce 1346 steers and heifers in subtropical northern Australia. Calves were assigned within sire by age and weight to one of three market endpoints (domestic, Korean or Japanese), one of two finishing environments (subtropical or temperate) and one of two finishing diets (pasture or feedlot). Average carcass weights were 227, 288 and 327 kg for domestic, Korean and Japanese markets respectively. Only steers were finished for the Japanese market. The effects of sire breed, finishing regime, market endpoint and sex on sensory meat quality of four attributes score (CMQ4), ossification score and Warner-Bratzler shear force (SF), instron compression (IC), ultimate pH and percent cooking loss (CL) on the M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LT) and M. semitendinosus (ST) were determined. Straightbred Brahmans had the highest SFLT (5.39 AE 0.07; P < 0.001), ICLT (1.89 AE 0.02; P < 0.05) and CL in both muscles (P < 0.05). Straightbred Brahmans were the only genotype that failed to meet minimum CMQ4 grading standards (38.3; P < 0.001). Progeny with up to 75% Brahman content successfully met minimum objective and sensory meat quality consumer thresholds for tenderness (IC <2.2 kg, SF <5.0 kg; CMQ4 >46.5). There was little difference between crossbred progeny for most meat quality traits. All feedlot-finished animals were slaughtered at domestic, Korean and Japanese market weights by 24 months of age, with minimal differences in objective measures of meat quality between markets. The IC measures for all sire breeds were below 2.2 kg, indicating connective tissue toughness was not an important market consideration in feedlot-finished animals slaughtered by 24 months of age. Pasture finishing adversely affected all meat quality traits (P < 0.001) except CLST, with Korean and Japanese market animals having unacceptably tough SF, IC and CMQ4 measures. This was attributed to their older age at slaughter (31 and 36 months respectively), resulting from their seasonally interrupted growth path. While domestic animals slaughtered at 25 months of age off pasture had unacceptably high SF and IC, CMQ4 was acceptable. Subtropical feedlot animals had slightly more desirable (n.s.) SF and IC relative to temperate feedlot animals, whereas temperate feedlot animals had higher CMQ4 (P < 0.001). Genotype · environment interactions were not important.

Effects of electrical stimulation and age at slaughter on carcass and meat quality of two Sudanese Baggara beef types

“…Neither breed type nor age at slaughter had any influence on muscle pH decline (P >0.05) (Figure 1). Similar findings were reported by Schutt et al (2009), Kadim et al (2009;, and Czyżak-Runowska et al 2017.…”

Brahman and Brahman crossbred cattle grown on pasture and in feedlots in subtropical and temperate Australia. 3. Feed efficiency and feeding behaviour of feedlot-finished animals

“…Of the total 666 000 head of cattle in Australian feedlots in March 2004, Queensland held nearly half of these (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005). Feedlot finishing of Brahman crossbred cattle in subtropical environments has been shown to improve carcass and meat quality attributes, including objective and sensory tenderness, and decrease age at slaughter by 7 months relative to pasture finishing (Schutt et al 2009a(Schutt et al , 2009b. With markets demanding a reliable supply of beef of consistently high eating quality, feedlot finishing is becoming standard practice in northern beef production systems targeting domestic and premium export markets.…”

Effects of Brahman genetic resource proportion on growth performance traits of beef crossbreds in Western Highlands of Vietnam

“…This cattle breed has a greater body weight (BW) than the breed or LYC and RSC, with higher carcass performance, effective feed conversion and high economic efficiency. In addition, Brahman cattle are gentle, docile and highly tolerant of hot and humid conditions, with good resistance to internal and external parasites and good reproductive performance in tropical and subtropical environments (Koger, 1963;Moran, 1970;Finch, 1985;Hohenboken, 1987;Rechav et al, 1990;Hammond and Olson, 1994;Hammond et al, 1996;Alvarez et al, 2000;Hansen, 2004;Svotwa et al, 2007;Schutt et al, 2009;Riley et al, 2012;Collier and Gebremedhin 2015;Cassidy, 2015;Dikmen et al, 2018;Davila et al, 2019;Mateescu et al, 2020;Ahammed et al, 2020;Mateescu et al, 2020).…”