Carcass characteristics and meat evaluation of cattle finished in temperate pasture and supplemented with natural additive containing clove, cashew oil, castor oils, and a microencapsulated blend of eugenol, thymol, and vanillin.

BACKGROUND: Forty crossbred steers were supplemented with different doses (from 0 control to 6000 mg/animal/day) of natural additive blend containing clove essential oil, cashew oil, castor oil, and a microencapsulated blend of eugenol, thymol, and vanillin for 80 days. Carcass characteristics, drip loss, and antioxidant activity were evaluated 24 h post mortem on longissimus thoracis, and the effects of aging (until 14 days) were evaluated for water losses (thawing/aging and cooking), texture, color, and lipid oxidation. RESULTS: The use of the natural additive blend did not modify (P > 0.05) carcass characteristics but did, however, modify body composition (P < 0.05). Drip losses were unaffected by the treatments tested (P > 0.05). There was an observed quadratic effect (P < 0.05) on losses from thawing/aging on the first day of storage. Regarding the effects of natural additives on cooking losses, there was a quadratic effect (P < 0.05) among the treatments on day 7 of aging. Differences between days of aging were only observed with control treatment. Shear force was similar among treatments on days 1 and 7 of aging. On day 14 a linear effect (P < 0.05) was observed. Also, a linear effect (P < 0.05) appeared on meat lightness, meat from the control group being clearer on day 1. No changes were observed in redness among treatments or days of storage (P > 0.05). Yellowness was not modified by the treatments (P > 0.05)but only by the days of storage in control and the lowest dosage used. CONCLUSION: The blend of natural additives has potential use in pasture feeding and could improve meat quality. However, doses should be adjusted. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Use of alginate edible coating and basil (Ocimum spp) extracts on beef characteristics during storage.

The effect of alginate edible coating and the addition of two levels of basil (Ocimum spp) on polyphenols, DPPH and ABTS activities, meat characteristics (lipid oxidation, pH, weight loss, texture, and color) during storage and on consumer acceptability were evaluated. Four treatments were developed: CON (control-without coating), AEC (with alginate edible coating), B01 (with alginate edible coating + 1% of basil extract) and B02 (with alginate edible coating + 2% of basil extract). The addition of basil increased the polyphenols and antioxidant activity of meat and reduced the lipid oxidation. The pH values were not altered by the addition of basil and ageing time. The meat with coating was darker, more red and yellow. The inclusion of basil extract in the alginate-based edible coating improved meat acceptability. Thus, edible coatings with natural sources of antioxidants improve meat stability during storage and can be used in the food industry.

Validation of photographs usage to evaluate meat visual acceptability of young bulls finished in feedlot fed with or without essential oils.

Forty ½ Brown Swiss×½ Nellore crossbred bulls were distributed into three experimental groups: CON - diet without addition of essential oils; CLO - diet with average 5,000mg/animal/day of clove essential oils and CIN - diet with average 5,000mg/animal/day of cinnamon essential oils to evaluate three methodologies of visual acceptability: with steaks directly in Trays and Sequential and Random photos. Seventeen consumers evaluated visual appearance of meat using a 9-point structured hedonic scale. CON group presented higher shelf-life than essential oils groups. Trays and Sequential scores were similar in the majority of days; thus digital images could be used to evaluate colour evolution. However, Random photos resulted in lower scores and slower acceptability decrease than Trays and Sequential photos (p<0.05) among the second and fifth day of display. Random photos presented a lower and more constant standard deviation than Trays and Sequential photos (p<0.01) indicating that this methodology promoted a higher standard situation for meat colour evaluation.