Evaluation of rumen temperature as a novel indicator of meat quality: Rumen temperature and haematological indicators of stress during the pre-slaughter period as predictors of instrumental meat quality in bulls

The use of new technologies such as rumen temperature boluses, together with the collective assessment of an animal stress responses may have the potential to act as an indicator of meat quality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate rumen temperature as a novel indicator of meat qu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMeat science Vol. 158; p. 107913
Main Authors Rutherford, N.H., Lively, F.O., Arnott, G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2019
Subjects
Abattoirs
Animal Husbandry
Animal Welfare
Animals
Body Temperature
Cattle - physiology
Cortisol
Creatine kinase
Creatine Kinase - blood
Hydrocortisone - blood
L-Lactate Dehydrogenase - blood
Male
Red Meat - analysis
Rumen - physiology
Rumen temperature bolus
Stress, Physiological - physiology
Stress-induced hyperthermia
Transportation
Ultimate pH
Ultimate pH
Stress-induced hyperthermia
Cortisol
Creatine kinase
Rumen temperature bolus
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Summary:The use of new technologies such as rumen temperature boluses, together with the collective assessment of an animal stress responses may have the potential to act as an indicator of meat quality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate rumen temperature as a novel indicator of meat quality, by investigating its relationship with welfare measures and instrumental meat quality. The study involved 42 Holstein bulls (15.8 ± 0.08 months of age), which were transported 42 km to a commercial abattoir. Mean rumen temperature rose by 0.511 °C (P < .001) during the pre-slaughter phase; peaking during lairage. In addition, cortisol, creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly (P < .001) elevated at slaughter. Bulls with a greater rumen temperature during the pre-slaughter phase produced meat with significantly higher pHult. Pre-slaughter rumen temperature was positively associated with slaughter CK, slaughter cortisol, pHult, L* and a*. Thus, rumen temperature demonstrates the potential to be used both as a novel welfare indicator and predictor of meat quality.
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ISSN:0309-1740
1873-4138
DOI:10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107913