Muscle Energy Metabolism, Growth, and Meat Quality in Beef Cattle

Jordan Wicks, Mariane Beline, Juan Fernando Morales Gomez, Santiago Luzardo, Saulo Luz Silva and David Gerrard
Additional contact information
Jordan Wicks: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Mariane Beline: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Pirassununga 13635-900, SP, Brazil
Juan Fernando Morales Gomez: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Pirassununga 13635-900, SP, Brazil
Santiago Luzardo: Programa Nacional de Carne y Lana, INIA Tacuarembó, Ruta 5, km 386, Tacuarembó 45000, Uruguay
Saulo Luz Silva: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Pirassununga 13635-900, SP, Brazil
David Gerrard: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

Agriculture, 2019, vol. 9, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: World meat production must increase substantially to support current projections in population growth over the next 30 years. However, maximizing product quality remains a focus for many in the meat industry, as incremental increases in product quality often signal potential increases in segment profitability. Moreover, increases in meat quality also address concerns raised by an ever-growing affluent society demanding greater eating satisfaction. Production strategies and valued endpoints differ worldwide, though this makes the global marketing of meat challenging. Moreover, this variation in production schemes makes it difficult for the scientific community to understand precisely those mechanisms controlling beef quality. For example, some cattle are produced in low input, extensive, forage-based systems. In contrast, some producers raise cattle in more intensive operations where feeding programs are strategically designed to maximal growth rates and achieve significant fat deposition. Yet, others produce cattle that perform between these two extremes. Fresh meat quality, somewhat like the variation observed in production strategies, is perceived differently across the globe. Even so, meat quality is largely predicated on those characteristics visible at the retail counter, namely color and perceived texture and firmness. Once purchased, however, the eating experience is a function of flavor and tenderness. In this review, we attempt to identify a few areas where animal growth may impact postmortem energy metabolism and thereby alter meat quality. Understanding how animals grow and how this affects meat quality development is incumbent to all vested in the meat industry.

Keywords: animals; growth; muscle; meat quality; beef; tenderness; color (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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