Meat physical characteristics of Mucca Pisana calves: slaughter age and meat ageing effect.

摘要

The effect of slaughtering age and meat ageing period on certain physical characteristics of Mucca Pisana calf meat was analysed in this study. The research was carried out on 3 muscles (longissimus dorsi, semimembranosus and caput longum triceps brachii) of 16 Mucca Pisana calves slaughtered at 14, 16, 18 and 20 months of age. The meat was aged 7, 14 and 21 days. Some of the physical characteristics of the meat from the older animals were worse than that of younger animals. The optimal slaughtering age should perhaps be fixed at 16-18 months. The optimal meat ageing period was 14 days, because during this period the physical parameters reached the optimal values. A longer ageing period did not result to any physical improvement in the meat.