Aging time effect on quality meat from buffaloes fed on two different diets

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the effect of two different diets on buffalo meat aging. The trial was carried out on 14 male buffaloes subdivided in two groups. During the finishing period the first group was fed mainly on alfalfa hay (AH), while the second group on maize silage (MS). The animals were slaughtered at 16 months of age and at 3 hours from slaughter the longissimus thoracis muscle was removed and stored at 2+1 °C until 14 days, to evaluate the effect of aging times on meat quality. The animals fed on maize silage, because of thicker fat layer, showed slower temperature fall and faster pH fall (5.53 vs 5.56 respectively for MS vs AH on 48 hours). Shear force value was higher for the animals fed on alfalfa hay during whole aging period (from 5.78 kg to 3.32 kg for AH and from 4.70 kg to 2.63 kg for MS) and their meat showed lower lightness particularly at 48 hours from slaughter (39.0 vs 41.2) and higher percentage of oxymyoglobin. Diet affect on aging performances, particularly for tenderness and also if the MS meat showed lower shear force it appeared more degraded and not very bright.