Abstract
Within the subtropical outermost regions of Europe, meat is obtained from two sources: importation and local production. Transportation time is the critical factor that affects imported meat (IM) and carcass quality, whereas local meat (LM) is frequently obtained from regional breeds. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate local and imported carcasses and meat quality in order to promote the consumption of local breeds, using the Canary Islands (Spain) as a model for other subtropical outermost regions. For this study 20 half-carcasses from Palmera breed and 20 imported half-carcasses were used at two different weights (5 and 10 kg). Five-kilogram local lamb carcasses had less moisture and more protein than did comparable IM carcasses. LM did, however, contain lower levels of saturated fatty acids and more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids than did IM. The atherogenicity index for LM was quite low, therefore, allowing local vendors to market their product as a healthier meat. Differences between LM and IM were not as dramatic when 10-kg carcasses were compared.
1. Introduction
There are two sources of meat in outermost regions in Europe: importation and local production. In these regions, imported meat (IM) usually comes from the mainland (Europe or America), and transportation time is the primary factor that affects carcass and meat quality (Monsón et al. Citation2005; Miranda-de la Lama et al. Citation2011). On the other hand, local meat (LM) is usually derived from regional breeds (Gandini and Villa Citation2003).
The Palmera breed of sheep is found on the Canary Islands (Spain), where sheep owners have developed an extensive meat production system centred on this breed. Although, in the past few years, demand for meat obtained from organic, natural and biological livestock production systems has dramatically increased (Estévez et al. Citation2003), costs associated with this meat production system are typically much higher than those needed to raise animals on feedstuff under intensive conditions (Soysal et al. Citation2011). This tendency has produced that many consumers prefer to buy imported lamb meat, rather than the more expensive LM, driving these local breeds, such as Palmera, to the brink of extinction.
For this reason, distinction between local and imported carcasses and meat has been previously described in lamb (Sierra et al. Citation1992) and beef (Delgado et al. Citation2005; Moreno-Indias et al. Citation2011) as a tool to increase the consumption of local livestock. In addition, Hernández-Castellano et al. (Citation2012) observed several sensory differences between Palmera and IM, being the feeding system and the ageing time of the IM in Canary Islands (6 days old) the main factors that produce these differences.
It has been reported that animals and their products, such as meat, are affected by several factors such as hormones (Aslaminejad et al. Citation2010; Liu et al. Citation2010) or stress (Hernández-Castellano et al. Citation2011) and others. Moreover, in recent years other factors have been studied including nutrition (López et al. Citation2010; Montano et al. Citation2010; Argüello Citation2011) and ageing time (Priolo et al. Citation2001; Merera et al. Citation2010; Morales-delaNuez et al. Citation2011) that can dramatically affect meat quality.
The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate local and imported carcasses and meat quality in order to promote the consumption of local breeds, using the Canary Islands (Spain) as a model for other outermost regions.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Location of the study, animals, and rearing
This study was conducted at the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The experimental procedures were approved by the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Ethical Committee. For this study 20 half-carcasses from Palmera breed and 20 imported half-carcasses were used. Carcasses were classified by weight (5 and 10 kg). LM animals were reared with theirs dams in an extensive production system without dietary supplementation while IM carcasses were directly bought from a representative market in Canary Islands. These imported carcasses were obtained from Castellana breed lambs which were reared under intensive production system and were slaughtered by Valladolid slaughterhouse (Valladolid, Spanish mainland).
2.2. Ageing time, carcass characteristics and dissection
Transportation time was lower for LM than IM, for this reason the ageing time was 24 h for LM carcasses and 6 d for IM carcasses (under refrigeration conditions in both cases). Carcass measurements included forefeet length (Palsson Citation1939) and carcass length (McMeekan Citation1939).
The left carcass side was divided into six primary cuts (neck, breast, rib, anterior rib, shoulder and leg) as described Colomer-Rocher et al. (Citation1988). After being weighed, each cut was separated into dissectible muscle, bone, fat (subcutaneous and intermuscular fat depots were recorded separately) and other tissues (OT; e.g. nerves and veins). Results were expressed as the percentage of cut weight.
2.3. Meat quality attributes
Muscle pH was determined using a Crisson 507 pH meter (Crison Instruments S.A., Barcelona, Spain) with a combined electrode, which was inserted into the Longissimus dorsi muscle between rib 12 and 13. Muscle colour was measured in the same muscle and location using a Minolta CR200 Chroma-meter (Minolta Corp., USA), where L* indicates relative lightness, a* indicates relative redness and b* indicates relative yellowness. Hue and chroma were calculated using a* and b* values, according to Wyszecki and Stiles (Citation1982). Colour and pH were measured 24 h after slaughter for LM and 6 d after slaughter for IM.
After carcass dissection, the Longissimus dorsi muscle was removed and analysed to determine water-holding capacity (WHC; Grau and Hamm Citation1953) and the fatty acid profile (Folch et al. Citation1957; Granados Citation2000). The fatty acid profile and the percentages of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (PUFA and MUFA, respectively) were used to calculate the atherogenicity index (AI) that was expressed as (C12:0+(4×C14:0) + C16:O)/(n-6PUFA + n-3PUFA + MUFA) according to Fehily et al. (Citation1994).
Cooked Semimembranossus muscle was used to determine cooking loss (Rodríguez et al. Citation2008) and muscle tenderness. Tenderness was determined by cutting muscle cores (1 cm2 in cross-section and 3 cm long) parallel to the muscle fibres. Core samples were then subjected to shear force analysis using a Warner-Bratzler shear force device (INSTRON 4465, Instron Inc., Barcelona, Spain).
The four muscles that compound Quadriceps muscle were used to determinate moisture, fat, protein, ash and collagen content. Moisture was determined by air drying according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC Citation1984; procedure 24.003) and fat by Soxhlet extraction using ether (AOAC Citation1984; procedure 13.032). The Kjeldahl procedure (AOAC Citation1984; procedure 2.057) was used to determine nitrogen content. A conversion factor of 6.25 was used to convert nitrogen values into a protein percentage. Ash levels were determined according to AOAC (Citation1984; procedure 14.066). Collagen content and solubility were determined according to Bonnet and Kopp (Citation1984) and Hill (Citation1966).
2.4. Statistical analysis
Differences between the studied carcasses and meats (imported vs. local) were analysed using the ANOVA procedure of SAS Version 9.00 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Significant differences required P≤0.05 for all carcass and meat parameters.
3. Results and discussion
The results for pH, colour and conformation of lamb carcasses are presented in . When the pH of 5-kg carcasses was compared between LM and IM; LM values were consistently lower. López and Casp (Citation2003) described that proteolysis increases meat pH and that proteolysis levels correlate with ageing time. As IM is aged longer than LM, this could explain the observed pH differences. However, there were no significant differences between pH values of 10-kg carcasses. This could have resulted from lower calpain activity in older animals that reduces the proteolysis rate of meat (Ou and Forsberg Citation1991; Whipple and Koohmaraie Citation1992; Northcutt et al. Citation1998).
Table 1. pH, colour and conformation of lamb carcasses from LM and IM.
No L* differences were observed in 5-kg carcasses; however, in the 10-kg category, LM was darker than IM. Meat lightness may reflect nutritional differences. According to Carson et al. (Citation2001), lambs raised on pasture (the LM condition) have darker meat than do animals fed nutritional supplements (the IM condition). In the present study, chroma and a* values were higher in 5-kg LM carcasses than in 5-kg IM carcasses. Ruminants reared in extensive conditions typically demonstrate greater levels of activity than do animals reared intensively (Herrera et al. Citation2011). This factor may explain the meat redness that characterised the LM 5-kg carcasses as it has been described by other authors (Boccard and Dumont Citation1976; Renerre Citation1986; Martínez-Cerezo et al. Citation2005). Opposite results, however, were obtained with the 10-kg carcasses. Chroma and a* were higher in IM than LM for these larger animals. This result could be explained by the longer ageing time for IM (6 d) as compared with LM (24 h). Sleper et al. (Citation1983) observed that ageing time has a positive correlation with myoglobin oxidation levels. In addition, a similar effect was observed by Abdullah and Qudsieh (Citation2009) in Awassi lambs. Ageing time would thus not affect 5-kg carcasses, because myoglobin concentrations are lower in young animals (Mayoral et al. Citation1999). No differences between imported and local carcasses were observed for b* and hue values.
No differences in carcass length, but also in leg length were observed for 5-kg carcasses. In contrast, these parameters were both higher in imported 10-kg carcasses. These differences were probably a consequence of the feeding systems (intensive vs. extensive; Carrasco et al. Citation2009). In the same way, IM carcass and leg compactness indices were significantly higher in the 10-kg carcasses, although significant differences were not detected in 5-kg carcasses.
shows the total weight percentages from split lamb carcasses. No differences were observed between IM and LM, in agreement with Pérez et al. (Citation2007).
Table 2. Total weight percentages of split lamb carcasses (Colomer-Rocher et al. 1988) from LM and IM.
Tissue composition of lamb carcasses is shown in . In general, LM was leaner than IM. For whole carcasses, both subcutaneous (10-kg carcasses only) and intermuscular (5-kg and 10-kg carcasses) fat levels were higher in IM as compared with LM. No discernible differences were measured for muscle, bone or OT. In 5-kg carcasses no differences were observed in the tissue composition of rib, anterior rib and neck primary cuts. However, the IM leg cut contained more fat (both subcutaneous and intermuscular), and a concomitant reduction in muscle as compared with the LM leg cut. Similar differences in fat distribution were observed in breast cuts. Finally, IM shoulder cuts from 5-kg carcasses contained more intermuscular fat than did LM. Similar changes in fat/muscle distribution were measured in 10-kg carcasses, although the changes were more dramatic. IM breast cuts from 10-kg carcasses contained a higher proportion of fat (both subcutaneous and intermuscular) and a reduction of muscle tissue as compared with LM breast. Similar differences in fat distribution were observed for the shoulder cut, and IM leg, rib and anterior rib contained a higher proportion of subcutaneous fat and a lower proportion of muscle than did LM (with the exception of rib muscle, where no differences were detected). Finally, IM neck contained more intermuscular fat and less muscle than did LM neck. Carrasco et al. (Citation2009) observed that lambs raised under extensive production systems yielded leaner meat than did animals raised under intensive production systems. Both diet and activity levels were thought to contribute to this difference. The intensive conditions, where IM is produced, may, therefore, explain the high fat and low muscle content measured in some joints.
Table 3. Tissue composition of lamb carcasses from LM and IM.
The chemical composition and physical parameters of LM and IM are shown in . IM was typically moister than LM, although no significant differences were measured in 10-kg carcasses. In contrast to this findings, Rodríguez et al. (Citation2008) found that the rearing system (intensive vs. extensive) did not affect the moisture content of meat. However, Beriain et al. (Citation2000) have reported moisture differences in carcasses of different weights and genotypes, which agree with our present study. The muscle of young lambs (i.e. the 5-kg carcass) typically contains more water and less protein as compared with that of older carcasses (Beriain et al. Citation2000; Argüello et al. Citation2005). In the current study, no differences in intramuscular fat percentages were detected in both studied weights. Lambs reared in extensive production systems have less intramuscular fat than do lambs from intensive production system (Renerre Citation1986; Priolo et al. Citation2002). In our study, LM from 5-kg carcasses had a higher protein content than 5-kg IM carcasses. As mentioned previously, the under-developed muscle of young animals typically contains more moisture and less protein (Beriain et al. Citation2000; Argüello et al. Citation2005). IM is derived from intensive rearing system, where animals grow faster and for this reason they are slaughtered at lower stage of maturity if it is compared with LM. This system of rearing, therefore, likely explains the differences in meat moisture and intramuscular fat content observed in the present study.
Table 4. Chemical composition of lamb muscle from LM and IM.
The ash percentage in muscle samples taken from either 5-kg or 10-kg carcasses did not differ between LM and IM. Results from several breeds agree with these findings (Beriain et al. Citation2000; Esenbuga et al. Citation2009); however, Costa et al. (Citation2009) reported ash percentage differences between Morada Nova and Santa Inês lamb carcasses.
In both carcass weights examined, IM meat was tender than LM. Costa et al. (Citation2009) demonstrated that lamb meat derived from extensive production systems is less tender than meat from intensive systems. Similarly, Crouse et al. (Citation1978) and Summers et al. (Citation1978) observed that feeding lambs a high energy diet, such as it is used in intensive production systems, increases meat tenderness. It is also possible that fat levels within muscle affect sarcomere contractility (more fat equals less contraction; Smith et al. Citation1976), which is known to affect meat tenderness (Wheeler and Koohmaraie Citation1994). Finally, ageing time could have influenced the final meat tenderness, being in agreement with Duckett et al. (Citation1998), who measured a 46% increase in tenderness as meat was aged 12 d, with the largest increase in tenderness occurring during the first 4 d. Similar findings have been reported by Jaime et al. (Citation1992). In agreement with this results, Hernández-Castellano et al. (Citation2012) observed that IM was tender than LM, when a sensorial analysis was performed.
Collagen content affects meat tenderness, as animals with high levels of soluble collagen produce tender meat (Hill Citation1966; Boccard et al. Citation1979; Heinze et al. Citation1986). In the present study, samples taken from 10-kg carcasses of LM had more soluble collagen than did IM samples (). Therefore, if they had been comparably aged, LM and IM could have similar levels of tenderness.
WHC and cooking loss are parameters that often correlate well with important organoleptic properties of meat, such as juiciness and tenderness (Hamm Citation1960). In the present study, LM expelled more juice and had greater cooking losses than did IM when samples from 5-kg to 10-kg carcasses were analysed. Differences in meat pH () may have affected these results. In agreement with these results, Hernández-Castellano et al. (2012) observed that IM was juicier than LM, although these differences only were detected in 5-kg carcasses.
indicates the fatty acid profiles of lamb LM and IM. The major fatty acids in all the studied meat samples were C16:0, C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2. Similarly, high percentages of these fatty acids have been measured in other breeds of sheep (Díaz et al. Citation2005; Nudda et al. Citation2011). Importantly, 5-kg carcasses of LM yielded meat with significantly lower levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA) as compared with those from IM. This difference could be attributed to lower levels of C14:0 and C16:0. There were no significant differences between LM and IM in MUFA or PUFA. The fatty acid profile of milk from Palmera animals has not been measured, but Valvo et al. (Citation2005) demonstrated that pasture-fed ewes produce milk with lower levels of SFA as compared with ewes that are fed energetic feedstuffs. In addition, Kuhne et al. (Citation1986) showed that the fatty acid profile of lamb meat provides an accurate reflection of milk composition (5-kg carcasses). Finally, in 5-kg carcasses, LM had a lower AI than did IM, indicating that LM represents a healthier option. No AI differences were observed when 10-kg carcasses were compared. According to Fehily et al. (Citation1994), individuals that typically consume food with an AI of ~1 are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.
Table 5. Fatty acid profile of LM and IM.
4. Conclusion
Several significant differences have been detected between LM and IM, which were generally more pronounced when 5-kg carcasses were analysed. LM was found with less subcutaneous and intermuscular fat percentage and more muscle percentage than IM, however, IM was found tender than LM, probably because of the higher ageing time of the IM. Importantly, LM from younger animals (5-kg carcasses) had a lower AI as compared with that from IM, allowing for the marketing and sale of LM as a healthier alternative.
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