Animal Science Abstract
Performance, slaughter characteristics and meat quality of young bulls from Belgian Blue, Limousin and Aberdeen Angus breeds fattened with a sugar-beet pulp or a cereal-based diet
C. Cuvelier1,A, J. F. Cabaraux1, I. Dufrasne2, A. Clinquart3, J. F. Hocquette2, L. Istasse4 and J.-L. Hornick1
AE-mail: ccuvelier@ulg.ac.be
1Nutrition Unit, B43, Department of Food Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liege University, Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liege, Belgium2Experimental Station, B39, Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liege University, Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liege, Belgium
3Food Technology Laboratory, B43 bis, Department of Food Science; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liege University, Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liege, Belgium
4Herbivore Research Unit, Muscle Growth and Metabolism Team, INRA, Theix, F-63122 Saint-Genes Champanelle, France
Abstract
Thirty-six young fattening bulls from three breeds (Belgian Blue, Limousin and Aberdeen Angus) were fattened over 5 months with fattening diets based either on sugar-beet pulp or on cereals. Fattening performance as well as carcass and meat characteristics were measured. There were few relevant effects of the diets on the parameters. The breeds also showed similar fattening features. However, the BB had higher killing-out proportion and their carcasses presented better scores in terms of conformation and fattening. The meat quality of the breeds differed, especially in terms of luminosity, redness and cooking losses. There were also significant influences of breed on the chemical composition of meat; fat content was lowest in Belgian Blue and highest in Aberdeen Angus. Such specificities could help to allocate breeds in appropriate niches in Belgium.
Keywords: breed differences, bulls, fattening performance, meat quality
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