Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-24DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109920
Long Li , Youqian Huang , Mengyin Wang , Chunhui Ma
{"title":"Effect of rumen-protected betaine and choline on carcass characteristics, amino acid and fatty acid composition of Ao-hu sheep","authors":"Long Li , Youqian Huang , Mengyin Wang , Chunhui Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109920","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109920","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with rumen-protected betaine (RPB) and rumen-protected choline (RPC) on carcass traits, amino acid composition, and fatty acid composition of Ao-hu sheep. A total of 96 sheep were randomly assigned to four groups. The trial lasted for 105 days, comprising a 15-day adaptation phase followed by a 90-day experimental period. The experimental diets consisted of 2.5 g/d RPB, 0.25 %/kg RPC, and a combination of 2.5 g/d RPB with 0.25 %/kg RPC. Compared to the control group (the sheep fed on the basal diet without adding RPB and RPC), all experimental groups demonstrated a significant increase in crude fat (CF) and total amino acids (TAA) in the <em>longissimus thoracis</em> (LT) muscle. Notably, the RPB × RPC group exhibited significant interactions that affecting dressing percentage (DP) and crude protein content (CP) (<em>P</em> < 0.05). Additionally, saturated fatty acids (SFA) significantly decreased, while monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) increased in the LT muscle across all treatments (<em>P</em> < 0.05). The combination of RPB and RPC also had significant interactive effects on total amino acids, SFA, PUFA, and MUFA in the LT muscle. Therefore, supplementation with either RPB or RPC improved carcass traits, reduced shear force, enhanced the content of umami amino acids, essential amino acids, and total amino acids, and decreased the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. As a result, both the tenderness and nutritional value of the meat were enhanced, leading to an overall improvement in meat quality. The combined supplementation of RPB and RPC yielded the most pronounced effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109920"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144713696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-24DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109918
Benjamin W.B. Holman , Shawn R. McGrath , M. Bruce Allworth , Emma E.M. Lynch , Damian Collins
{"title":"The estimation of consumer scores for lamb longissimus lumborum muscle juiciness using pressed juice percentage values","authors":"Benjamin W.B. Holman , Shawn R. McGrath , M. Bruce Allworth , Emma E.M. Lynch , Damian Collins","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109918","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109918","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the effects of replication (<em>r</em>) on the pressed juice percentage (PJP) variation of lamb meat and the relationship between PJP and consumer sensory scores for juiciness, tenderness, flavour, and overall liking. Samples were collected from the right <em>longissimus lumborum</em> muscle of 50 lamb carcasses and analysed for PJP as well as eating quality scored by 64 untrained participants of consumer sensory panels. It was found that there was a 19.4 % reduction in variance from 3 additional replicates (<em>r</em> = 4) and there seems to be little practical advantage to exceeding this number of replicates when measuring PJP for lamb meat – except in instances where higher levels of precision are required. The relationship between PJP and lamb meat eating quality was found to be statistically insignificant, although all coefficients were positive; juiciness (0.62 ± 0.37; <em>P</em> = 0.105), tenderness (0.35 ± 0.52; <em>P</em> = 0.498), flavour (0.44 ± 0.34; <em>P</em> = 0.204), and overall liking (0.37 ± 0.41; <em>P</em> = 0.367). These findings will help to inform research into PJP as an objective measure for lamb meat juiciness and other eating quality traits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109918"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144723396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-23DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109919
Lara Premi , Anna Jofré , Gabriele Rocchetti , Luigi Lucini , Annalisa Rebecchi , Ricard Bou
{"title":"Selected Staphylococcus spp. and ZnPP-containing liver extract are nitrite-free alternatives to enhance red colour of dry-fermented sausages","authors":"Lara Premi , Anna Jofré , Gabriele Rocchetti , Luigi Lucini , Annalisa Rebecchi , Ricard Bou","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As an alternative to adding pure nitrite sources to dry-fermented sausages, we examined three different strategies involving the addition of two meat-associated coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) showing nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) activity, a porcine liver extract rich in the pigment zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), and a polyphenol-rich ingredient (NATPRE T-10 CUR HT) alone or in combination with the other strategies. We studied the colour development of nine dry-fermented sausages originating from a meat batter control without nitrite (CTRL-), control with nitrite (CTRL+), inoculated with <em>Staphylococcus equorum</em> (L33), inoculated with <em>Staphylococcus saprophyticus</em> (L49), formulated with a ZnPP-rich extract (ZnPPEx), formulated with NATPRE alone (CTRL-/NATPRE) or in combination with the other strategies (L33/NATPRE, L49/NATPRE, ZnPPEx/NATPRE, respectively). The colour was affected by the treatment, ripening period, and their interaction (<em>P</em> < 0.001). After ripening, all treatments resulted in good colour when compared to the CTRL-. Nitrosyl-heme was always detected, but the CTRL+ treatment and those involving residual nitrite sources through the addition of NATPRE recorded higher values than the other samples, which produced similar results. Treatments involving the addition of the ZnPP-rich ingredient resulted in high ZnPP levels. The aqueous extracts showed the presence of soluble ZnPP forms in the ZnPPEx and ZnPPEx/NATPRE sausages, whereas the addition of nitrite and NATPRE resulted in a loss of myoglobin solubility. The mechanism of NOS-positive staphylococcal strains to maintain colour is unclear, but L49 was able to maintain reduced oxymyoglobin until the end of ripening. These findings reveal the potential of these strategies to promote colour in dry-fermented meats.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109919"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144711993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of space allowance, roughage supplement, and enrichment provision on growth, carcass weight and meat quality in conventional indoor pig husbandry","authors":"Mathilde Coutant , Marlene Schou Grønbeck , Marchen Hviid , Lene J. Pedersen , Mona L.V. Larsen","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109916","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109916","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extensification of indoor pig husbandry is increasingly under focus, but effects on meat quality remain to be determined. This study investigated the effects of extensification factors on growth, carcass weight and meat quality of fattening pigs. Three factors were studied on pigs from 30 kg up to slaughter at approximately 120 kg: increase space allowance to 1.4 (S9, n pigs = 108, n samples = 42) or 2.1 (S6, n pigs = 72, n samples = 42) m2 per pig, provision of various enrichments (E, n pigs = 114, n samples = 44), and daily provision of roughage (R, n pigs = 115, n samples = 45). Treatments were compared to a control group with 0.7 m2 per pig and no extra enrichment nor roughage (C, n pigs = 115, n samples = 48). The study was performed over two batches, in spring and in autumn. The treatments had overall no effect on meat quality as measured by temperature and pH, colour, driploss, cooking loss or texture. However, the meat from S9 pigs had a significantly lighter colour than the meat from C, R or E and in addition, pigs from S6 had a higher growth rate (ADG) and carcass weight than C and R. Overall, the treatments had little to no effect on meat quality but increasing space allowance by a factor three notably improved pig growth. In contrast, the experimental batch significantly influenced several parameters of meat quality as well as growth and carcass weight, highlighting that un-controlled factors varying between batches, including seasonal effects, had a greater impact on meat quality than the treatments alone.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109916"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144738372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109915
E. Fulladosa , E. Torres-Baix , I. Muñoz , A. Olmos , P. Gou , S. Bover-Cid
{"title":"Hyperspectral imaging and predictive microbiology for the non-invasive evaluation of the growth probability of Staphylococcus aureus in sliced dry-cured ham","authors":"E. Fulladosa , E. Torres-Baix , I. Muñoz , A. Olmos , P. Gou , S. Bover-Cid","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109915","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109915","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work aimed to explore the potential of a non-invasive approach, consisting of the use of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) together with predictive microbiology, for dry-cured ham safety evaluation. The growth probability of <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> in salt-reduced or not sliced dry-cured ham stored at room temperature and the effect of image preprocessing on this evaluation were analysed. To this end, predictive models for a<sub>w</sub> were developed (RMSEP = 0.013) and later used to calculate a<sub>w</sub> chemical images, a<sub>w</sub> frequency polygons and predicted a<sub>w</sub> at different percentiles, which were later used as predictive microbiology model inputs. This innovative approach showed no differences in product a<sub>w</sub> between salting groups and in the associated growth probability of <em>S. aureus</em>. Due to the high variability of a<sub>w</sub> between samples inside the same salting batch, the growth probability of <em>S. aureus</em> ranged from 19 to 46 % when using pH and a<sub>w</sub> values at percentile 75th. Image preprocessing was able to remove image artifacts (specular highlights and fat streaks), and the different image preprocessing thresholds used did not influence the predicted a<sub>w</sub> values at different percentiles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109915"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-18DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109914
Mengjiao Han , Qianhui Gu , Sam Al-Dalali , Conggui Chen , Baocai Xu , Peijun Li
{"title":"Changes in volatile organic compounds of tray-packed fresh beef sausages under refrigeration: The roles of dominant spoilage bacteria","authors":"Mengjiao Han , Qianhui Gu , Sam Al-Dalali , Conggui Chen , Baocai Xu , Peijun Li","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109914","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109914","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to investigate the change of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in fresh beef sausages during refrigerated storage and assess the relationship between VOC levels and microbial population. Forty-one VOCs were detected using headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry (GC-O-MS). The results of the 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing indicated that the spoilage bacteria predominated were <em>Brochothrix</em> and <em>Serratia</em>. Acetoin, hexanal and 1-octen-3-ol were significantly positively related to <em>Brochothrix</em> (Mantel's <em>r</em> = 0.95, <em>p</em> = 0.017) and <em>Serratia</em> (Mantel's <em>r</em> = 0.81, <em>p</em> = 0.024) levels. As the key VOCs, these three compounds may serve as spoiling indicators for tray-packed fresh beef sausages. This study elucidates the production of VOCs by microbial roles in fresh beef sausages and offers insights for prolonging the shelf life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109914"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144679000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-15DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109913
Kai Shan, Guanghong Zhou, Chunbao Li
{"title":"Meat phenomics: A novel concern linking meat across the whole chain","authors":"Kai Shan, Guanghong Zhou, Chunbao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109913","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109913","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Genetic and environmental factors jointly determine the biological characteristics of muscle and connective tissue. These measurable physical, chemical, and biological traits are, in fact, also the determinants of meat eating quality and serve as important references for the study in meat animal production from quantity to quality. Therefore, the integration of high-throughput and multi-dimensional meat quality parameters with clear biological foundations will provide excellent targets for consuming-oriented molecular breeding and precision husbandry research. Here, we introduce a novel concept, meat phenomics, to define this set of quantitative indicators with a well-defined genetic basis. These indicators encompass both external attributes, such as meat color and tenderness, and internal biomolecular qualities and quantities, including myoglobin and fatty acids. By clarifying the relationships between meat phenotypes and genotypes, it is convincing that meat phenomics should be recognized as an independent discipline to provide scientific and standardized data. This will promote the synergistic development of food science and animal husbandry to produce higher-quality meat. Benefiting from the extensive genetic and sample repositories of livestock and poultry, the functions of more gene structures and variants are anticipated to be elucidated in the future. By interpreting the interrelationships among gene polymorphisms, expression regulation, and phenotypes, meat phenomics can also provide valuable materials for broader life science investigations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109913"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144656919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Progress of smart biofilms in intelligent and sustainable meat preservation","authors":"Lingli Zhang, Xinqiao Xia, Xiaomin Cen, Jia Zhou, Zhongbiao Tan, Yanyong Mao, Wenqian Li, Hao Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109912","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109912","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Smart biofilms offer an innovative solution for meat preservation by enabling responsive control over microbial growth and oxidation. This review systematically analyzes the development of biopolymer and synthetic polymer-based films with enhanced mechanical, barrier, and stimulus-responsive properties. These smart films enable targeted release of active agents, outperforming conventional methods in extending shelf life and preserving quality. Future efforts should prioritize the scalable, eco-friendly production and safety concerns (potential leaching of toxic materials into meat products) to support the intelligent transformation of meat preservation practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109912"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-12DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109902
Zixin Ming , Xi Liu , Yifeng Ding , Peng Guan , Xiaohong Wang , Yanchun Shao
{"title":"Characterization of a novel phage PFX2 and its preliminary application in the biocontrol of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms on fresh beef","authors":"Zixin Ming , Xi Liu , Yifeng Ding , Peng Guan , Xiaohong Wang , Yanchun Shao","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109902","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109902","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Pseudomonas fluorescens</em> is the primary spoilage microorganism in meat products, known for its robust biofilm-forming ability and causing significant food safety risks. This study aimed to investigate phage-based decontamination of <em>Pseudomonas fluorescens</em> on beef. A novel lytic phage PFX2 was isolated and characterised, which exhibits high host specificity and maintains its lytic ability under harsh environmental conditions. In the bacteriostatic experiment, phage PFX2 could significantly inhibit <em>P. fluorescens</em> growth at both 4 °C and 25 °C in beef. Phage PFX2 inhibited biofilm formation by 81.53 % when co-cultured with bacteria for 18 h. Additionally, after 2 h of exposure to phage PFX2, mature biofilms were reduced by 97.52 % and 99.80 % on beef and glass surfaces, respectively. Furthermore, microscopic observation validated phage PFX2 base biofilm removal from beef and processing equipment surfaces. These findings indicate that PFX2, as a novel lytic phage, has the potential to control <em>P. fluorescens</em>, particularly its biofilm-associated contamination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109902"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144663505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meat SciencePub Date : 2025-07-12DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109911
F. Gondret , K. Sierżant , B. Lebret
{"title":"Genotype and dietary inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids and fiber influence metabolism of subcutaneous adipose tissue and systemic metabolic outcomes in growing pigs","authors":"F. Gondret , K. Sierżant , B. Lebret","doi":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109911","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109911","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adipose tissue properties are considered as determinants of meat quality, but also play roles in animal robustness. From 33 kg to 116 kg on average, a total of 60 Duroc (D) or Pietrain (P) crossbred female pigs were individually fed either a conventional (C) or an experimental (R) feeding strategy with a diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids and crude fibers (<em>n</em> = 15 pigs per group). The D pigs had a lower feed efficiency and a higher proportion of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) at slaughter than P pigs (<em>P</em> < 0.01). SCAT in D pigs had lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; <em>P</em> < 0.001) and higher levels of peroxidized lipids (<em>P</em> < 0.05) than SCAT in P pigs. In plasma, reactive oxygen metabolites to total antioxidant capacity was higher (<em>P</em> < 0.01) in D pigs than in P pigs. Compared to C, feeding the R diet resulted in a marked decrease in the <em>n-6:n-3</em> PUFA ratio in SCAT, which was even more pronounced in D pigs than in P pigs (<em>P</em> < 0.05). The R feeding strategy increased beta-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase activity (<em>P</em> < 0.05) acting in fatty acid oxidation, and SCAT susceptibility to peroxidation. This also led to a reduction in plasma phospholipid concentrations and oxidative stress in the D pigs (<em>P</em> < 0.05). Thus, the nutritional value of fat products for humans and the systemic metabolic outcomes for pigs could be improved with an appropriate feeding strategy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":389,"journal":{"name":"Meat Science","volume":"229 ","pages":"Article 109911"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}