Beef quality in two autochthonous Valdostana breeds fattened in alpine transhumance: effect of lowland finishing and meat ageing

Figures & data

Figure 1. Experimental design and schedule. VC: Valdostana Chestnut; VR: Valdostana Red Pied; PI: Piedmontese.

Table 1. Effect of dual-purpose Valdostana (Chestnut and Red Pied) and beef (Piedmontese) breeds (B) as well as 48 days of finishing (F) on growth and slaughter performance.

Breed	Chestnut		Red Pied		Piedmontese			p-Values
Finishing	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	SEM	B	F	B × F
Animals, n	7	7	7	7	5	5
Age, days
Start	192	176	181	154	267	214	10.40	.001	<.001	.280
At slaughter	322	354	311	332	363	358	12.30	.010	.080	.280
Body weight, kg
Start	147	120	158	127	264	210	10.50	<.001	<.001	.350
End of grass feeding	195	158	197	169	264	204	10.60	<.001	<.001	.270
At slaughter	195	202	197	210	264	232	11.90	<.001	.644	.110
Body weight gains, g/day
Start to end of grass feeding	368	290	299	320	4	−65	324.30	<.001	.090	.160
Finishing phase		911		863		588	110.70	.090
Dressing percentage	48.80	45.30	47.30	46.20	52.20	52.80	0.92	<.001	.072	.059
Carcase weight, kg	95	92	91	95	138	123	7.50	<.001	.382	.390
Carcase characteristics^a
Conformation score	1.71	1.57	1.71	1.86	3.20	3.00	0.25	<.001	.722	.715
Fat cover score	1.00	1.43	1.00	1.43	1.00	1.00	0.15	.222	.012	.222
Organ proportions, g/kg body weight
Liver	11.80	12.9	11.50	13.40	9.30	11.70	0.46	<.001	<.001	.297
Lungs	6.12	7.42	6.29	6.95	5.73	6.84	0.32	.269	<.001	.493
Heart	4.32	4.12	4.26	4.25	3.42	3.78	0.20	.002	.741	.321
Kidneys	2.29	2.43	2.16	2.52	1.57	1.81	0.15	<.001	.030	.654
Spleen	1.85	2.03	1.79	1.66	1.54	1.67	0.12	.011	.452	.291

Values are Least Square means, standard errors of the means (SEM) and p-values.

^aAccording to the EUROP carcase grading system: conformation, P = 1 = poor to E = 5 = very pronounced; fat cover, 1 = carcase not covered with fat tissue, 5 = carcase excessively fat, 3 = carcase homogenously covered with fat tissue.

Table 2. Effect of dual-purpose Valdostana (Chestnut and Red Pied) and beef (Piedmontese) breeds (B), 48 days of finishing (F) as well as ageing (A) for 7 or 28 days on the physicochemical properties of the longissimus thoracis muscle.

Breed		Chestnut		Red Pied		Piedmontese			p-Values
Finishing		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	SEM	B	F	A	B × F	B × A	F × A
Animals, n	A	7	7	7	7	5	5
pH24 h p.m.		5.56	5.60	5.62	5.83	5.65	5.74	0.06	.667	<.001		.342
Fat, g/kg meat	^a	6.43	12.43	7.57	9.57	3.56	7.79	1.07	.002	<.001		.101
Collagen content, g/kg meat
Total		4.11	4.36	4.89	4.28	3.54	3.79	0.35	.016	.869		.215
Insoluble		3.65	3.69	4.32	3.19	2.80	2.70	0.32	.003	.084		.055
Solubility, %		11.50	14.90	11.3	24.40	19.8	29.20	5.97	.112	.042		.572
Drip loss, 24 h, %	7	1.37	1.51	1.45	1.63	1.30	1.51	0.19	.995	.838	.013	.970	.506	.122
	28	1.29	1.15	1.16	1.09	1.37	1.18
Ageing loss, %	7	2.26	3.02	2.29	3.11	1.47	2.20	0.55	.664	<.001	<.001	.845	.125	.176
	28	3.50	4.75	3.72	4.94	3.61	5.59
Cooking loss, %	7	23.30	24.00	22.10	24.20	20.4	25.10	1.42	.064	.127	.070	.161	.023	.071
	28	24.20	24.50	23.50	20.90	26.1	27.90
Colour
Lightness (L*)	7	36.50	36.70	39.40	35.80	37.90	39.10	0.84	.007	.919	.807	.002	.874	.120
	28	36.50	36.90	37.70	36.80	37.20	39.60
Redness (a*)	7	18.50	15.50	18.40	15.50	16.50	15.40	0.52	.006	<.001	.001	.188	.238	.015
	28	18.80	17.90	18.00	16.70	17.50	16.70
Yellowness (b*)	7	0.34	−0.08	−0.38	−0.26	0.01	1.12	0.45	.112	.366	<.001	.078	.455	.043
	28	2.53	1.73	2.33	0.96	1.84	1.92
Hue	7	0.02	−0.01	−0.02	−0.03	0.00	0.07	0.03	.094	.458	<.001	.074	.559	.106
	28	0.13	0.10	0.13	0.05	0.10	0.11
Shear force, N	7	54.40	77.60	53.50	72.30	42.70	47.30	6.37	.001	<.001	.481	.065	.119	.975
	28	48.50	78.20	49.80	54.20	45.00	58.10

Values are Least Square means, standard errors of the means (SEM) and p-values.

^aIn the non-aged meat.

Table 3. Effect of dual-purpose Valdostana (Chestnut and Red Pied) and beef (Piedmontese) breeds (B), 48 days of finishing (F) as well as ageing ageing (A) for 7 or 28 days on the physicochemical properties of the biceps femoris muscle.

Breed		Chestnut		Red Pied		Piedmontese			p-Values
Finishing		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	SEM	B	F	A	B × F	B × A	F × A
Animals, n	A	7	7	7	7	5	5
pH24 h p.m.		5.55	5.75	5.41	5.73	5.54	5.80	0.049	.076	<.001		.345
Drip loss, 24 h, %	7	1.21	1.13	0.89	1.28	2.02	1.53	0.214	.034	.625	.023	.153	.011	.283
	28	1.16	1.17	0.97	1.21	0.95	1.18
Ageing loss, %	7	2.62	1.67	1.88	2.03	3.15	2.09	0.498	.280	.773	.251	.132	.259	.024
	28	2.04	2.25	2.24	3.28	2.55	2.75
Cooking loss, %	7	21.30	27.30	20.20	26.10	22.40	26.20	1.340	.271	.007	.637	.692	.906	<.001
	28	24.80	23.80	24.70	21.10	23.30	23.80
Colour
Lightness (L*)	7	35.70	36.50	37.70	37.50	40.20	38.10	0.730	<.001	.123	<.001	.667	.442	.003
	28	37.70	38.30	38.40	40.60	41.00	43.40
Redness (a*)	7	18.70	19.90	18.60	19.00	18.20	16.60	0.550	.001	.699	.001	.041	.313	.712
	28	19.70	20.40	19.20	19.50	19.20	18.90
Yellow-ness (b*)	7	−0.61	2.09	−0.24	1.92	0.27	0.99	0.430	.113	<.001	<.001	.162	.037	.001
	28	3.56	3.59	3.43	4.26	4.76	4.97
Hue	7	−0.03	0.10	−0.01	0.10	0.02	0.06	0.021	.029	<.001	<.001	.222	.038	.001
	28	0.18	0.17	0.18	0.22	0.24	0.26
Shear force, N	7	39.90	47.40	39.60	42.00	34.10	35.90	3.350	.141	.056	.880	.704	.149	.774
	28	37.80	40.40	39.90	40.90	36.70	41.70

Values are Least Square means, standard errors of the means (SEM) and p-values.

Table 4. Effect of dual-purpose Valdostana (Chestnut and Red Pied) and beef (Piedmontese) breeds (B), 48 days of finishing (F) as well as ageing (A) for 7 or 28 days on the perception of a trained sensory panel of different attributes^a of the longissimus thoracis muscle.

Breed		Chestnut		Red Pied		Piedmontese			p-Values
Finishing		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	SEM	B	F	A	B × F	B × A	F × A
Animals, n	A	7	7	7	7	5	5
Smell
Barny	7	37	29	27	31	33	26	4.8	.460	.046	.042	.136	.141	.399
	28	30	34	39	32	54	32
Bloody	7	28	18	16	21	25	20	4.8	.470	.049	.705	.477	.464	.362
	28	20	19	27	18	34	18
Brothy	7	29	31	30	29	27	23	2.9	.352	.546	.647	.442	.372	.261
	28	25	32	27	25	25	30
Metallic	7	18	20	20	19	19	12	2.0	.430	.208	.014	.033	.007	.640
	28	18	21	19	19	29	23
Taste
Barny	7	27	25	23	26	23	23	3.6	.931	.570	.026	.044	.307	.596
	28	25	30	27	33	42	23
Bloody	7	27	19	28	19	32	20	5.1	.106	.003	.996	.409	.412	.891
	28	23	18	26	17	39	22
Brothy	7	39	36	35	29	46	35	3.3	.088	.749	.603	.502	.453	.010
	28	32	40	35	39	38	42
Metallic	7	33	32	31	26	35	26	3.8	.443	<.001	.277	.549	.711	.125
	28	37	27	39	23	38	30
Sour	7	15	16	17	14	18	17	1.9	.097	.036	.027	.475	.643	.122
	28	20	17	19	14	24	18
Sweet	7	12	15	12	16	18	14	1.1	.014	.021	.993	.009	.083	.214
	28	10	14	15	18	15	15
Aftertaste
Astringent	7	17	20	24	20	25	21	2.8	.915	.327	.173	.104	.041	.841
	28	25	27	22	21	25	19
Brothy	7	24	17	21	20	24	21	2.5	.153	.552	.164	.392	.509	.104
	28	22	26	18	23	28	25
Metallic	7	22	25	30	24	27	23	2.3	.275	.010	.294	.153	.699	.195
	28	31	20	32	22	27	29
Texture
Coarse	7	55	85	61	63	36	45	5.0	<.001	.011	.297	.049	.587	.110
	28	66	67	59	52	33	50
Hard^b	7	51	77	50	56	24	39	4.7	<.001	<.001	.397	.048	.451	.285
	28	64	65	46	45	18	45
Juicy	7	45	25	50	46	78	47	4.8	<.001	<.001	.147	.001	.623	.158
	28	34	29	38	43	77	45
Tender^b	7	41	19	41	39	65	50	6.3	<.001	.003	.648	.040	.931	.705
	28	29	31	43	41	76	44

Values are Least Square means, standard errors of the means (SEM) and p-values.

^a0 = was not noticed at all, to 100 = extremely pronounced; ^bThree-way interaction significant at p < .05.

Table 5. Effect of dual-purpose Valdostana (Chestnut and Red Pied) and beef (Piedmontese) breeds (B), 48 days of finishing (F) as well as ageing (A) for 7 or 28 days concerning consumer perception of sensory attributes and price of biceps femoris muscle.

Breed		Chestnut		Red Pied		Piedmontese			p-Values
Finishing		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	SEM	B	F	A	B × F	B × A	F × A
Animals, n	A	7	7	7	7	5	5
Sensory attributes^a
Overall liking	7	4.9	4.3	5.2	4.9	4.8	4.8	0.358	.776	.084	.020	.985	.083	.888
	28	5.4	5.4	^b	4.7	5.7	5.0
Taste	7	4.6	4.6	5.9	4.8	4.6	4.8	0.447	.123	.010	.026	.109	.743	.256
	28	5.4	5.1		4.8	5.5	5.0
Juiciness	7	5.2	3.5	5.5	4.7	4.4	4.8	0.493	.672	.020	.165	.250	.067	.388
	28	5.2	5.0		4.3	5.6	5.0
Tenderness	7	4.9	3.1	4.9	4.4	4.3	4.7	0.540	.230	.059	.023	.221	.054	.411
	28	5.3	5.0		4.2	5.8	5.1
Aftertaste	7	4.2	3.9	4.8	4.7	4.1	4.5	0.372	.763	.574	.201	.869	.038	.773
	28	4.7	4.7		4.1	4.9	4.6
Price^c
Generic	7	4.3	3.5	4.6	4.2	4.2	4.3	0.394	.583	.051	.016	.933	.188	.774
	28	4.8	4.7		4.2	5.2	4.5
Locally reared	7	4.2	3.4	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.1	0.356	.488	.065	.003	.814	.224	.490
	28	4.6	4.6		4.2	4.9	4.5
Locally reared and local breed	7	4.7	3.9	4.8	4.5	4.6	4.8	0.413	.630	.107	.031	.954	.309	.817
	28	5.1	5.1		4.6	5.4	4.7

Values are Least Square means, standard errors of the means (SEM) and p-values.

^a1 = low/weak to 7 = high/pronounced.

^bNo data available.

^c1 = too expensive, 4 = adequate, 7 = very cheap, assuming a price of €11 per kg for the respective meat tested when it would be of generic origin or from local breeds or from local breeds and origin.