Carcass and meat quality of foals from Burguete and Jaca Navarra breeds raised under sustainable livestock systems in mountain landscapes. Development and innovation of new foal meat products
Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This doctoral thesis focused on two autochthonous Navarre foal breeds in risk of extinction, Jaca Navarra and Burguete, raised at mountain pasture, and finished following two distinct finishing diets. In particular, firstly, this work aimed to study the effect of the breed, Jaca Navarra (JN) vs. Burguete (BU), and of the finishing diet, conventional concentrate and straw (diet 1 – D1) vs. silage and organic feed (diet 2 - D2), on the growth parameters, carcass characteristics, and meat quality from fortysix foals. Moreover, the other main purpose of this Thesis was to investigate novel approaches focused on lipid or salt reformulation in order to achieve four healthier foal meat products, burger, dry-fermented sausage, pâté, and cecina, without altering their technological and sensory properties. The outcomes obtained in this Thesis contribute significantly to improve the knowledge about the carcass and meat quality of the endangered Navarre foal breeds, especially in case of JN breed. Data indicated the predominance of BU-D1 foals concerning the growth parameters, carcass traits, and meat quality in terms of fat contents, lightness, marbling, tenderness, and juiciness. Nonetheless, the more fibrous D2 stood out as promising alternative to the conventional one, since it allowed a good development of carcass features (though in minor measure), especially in BU foals, as well as, the enhancement of the meat quality, in particular from a nutritional and aromatic standpoint. Moreover, the livestock procedures employed could be related to positive effects at social, economic, and especially at environmental levels, conferring an added-value to the final products. Therefore, the dietetic profile, and green image of this meat combined with the incorporation of the studied potential animal fat or salt replacers in the elaboration of foal derived meat products allowed to obtain final products with enhanced nutritional profiles without excessively altering their technological and sensorial properties in most of the cases, satisfying the modern consumers’ requirements, as well as, the heath recommendations.
Author: Cittadini, Aurora
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4391259832