The body axis plays a central role in tetrapod locomotion. It contributes to the work of locomotion, provides the foundation for the production of mechanical work by the limbs, is central to the control of body posture, and integrates limb and trunk actions. The epaxial muscles of mammals have been suggested to mobilize and globally stabilize the trunk, but the timing and the degree to which th...

We compared the sensory qualities of meat and carcasses from pasture-fed lambs reared organically or conventionally (O vs. C) at 2 levels of herbage availability (High H vs. Low L). Mean lamb growth profile was kept similar between the two production systems. The experiment was conducted over 2 years from weaning until slaughter with 12 OH, OL, CH and CL Limousine castrated lambs each year. The...

The effect of natural (NE) and synthetic vitamin E supplementation (SE) on lamb meat packed under modified atmospheres (MAP) for 14 days was studied. Three hundred and sixty Rasa Aragonesa lambs were offered nine dietary treatments (0, NE125, NE250, NE500, NE1000, SE250, SE500, SE1000 and SE2000). Lambs had ad libitum access to the experimental compound feed and wheat straw, for 14 days (pre-sl...

Twenty Assaf lambs fed barley straw plus a concentrate alone (CONTROL group) or enriched with naringin (1.5 g/kg DM, NARINGIN group) were used to assess the effect of this polyphenolic compound on meat quality attributes. Serum samples were collected for 7 weeks, then the animals were slaughtered and the livers and longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscles extracted for analysis. Triacylglycerol...

The objective of this experiment was to determine age-related changes in collagen concentration, sarcomere length, calpain (μ- and m-) and calpastatin activities, postmortem proteolysis and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) in ovine longissimus thoracis et lumborum. Rambouillet lambs were slaughtered at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 months of age and samples of longissimus were collected at 0, 2 and 10 da...

Sides of the 40 selected carcasses were alternately assigned to both conventional chilling and cold boning (CB) or hot boning (HB). Fabrication of CB sides took place after overnight chilling (20 h postmortem) and subsequent carcass grading, while fabrication of HB sides occurred on the day of slaughter within 60 min of exsanguination. Five muscles were removed, including the longissimus lumbor...

Carcass and longissimus thoracis palatability traits from 888 steers obtained from mating Hereford and Angus cows to Hereford or Angus (HA), Charolais (Ch), Gelbvieh (Gb), Pinzgauer (Pz), Shorthorn (Sh), Galloway (Gw), Longhorn (Lh), Nellore (Ne), Piedmontese (Pm), and Salers (Sa) sires were compared. Data were adjusted to constant age (426 d), carcass weight (324 kg), fat thickness (1.2 cm), f...

Janz, J. A. M., Aalhus, J. L. and Price, M. A. 2002. Fibre type characteristics and postmortem glycolysis of bison (Bison bison bison) longissimus lumborum. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 82: 259–262. To augment the limited information base, muscle fibre and postmortem glycolytic data from bison longissimus lumborum were compiled. As expected, postmortem glycogen concentration and pH declined while lactate...