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This study aimed to investigate the effects of slaughter age (young vs. old), muscle type (Longissimus dorsi (LD), Gluteus medius (GM)) and fat deposits (kidney knob and channel fat, subcutaneous fat, intramuscular fat) on chemical, organoleptic, textural characteristics and fatty acid composition of Holstein Friesian bull meat. For this purpose, the carcasses of 26 Holstein Friesian bulls that had been fattened on the same private farm were assigned to two experimental groups based on their age at slaughter: a young group (YG) (average age: 17.0 ± 1.0 months old) and an old group (OG) (average age: 22.0 ± 1.0 months old). The percentage of crude protein, panel tenderness score, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and saturated fatty acid (SFA) content, the PUFA/SFA ratio and the hypocholesterolemic fatty acid (DFA)/hypercholesterolemic fatty acid (OFA) ratio of the bull carcasses decreased significantly with increasing slaughter age. By contrast, the OFA content of the carcasses significantly increased (p < 0.05) with increasing slaughter age. Advanced slaughter age resulted in lower panel tenderness scores. Additionally, the meat of the bulls in the OG was considered to be less healthy because of the less desirable fatty acid composition and nutritional indices, such as the PUFA/SFA and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratios, compared to the meat from the bulls in the YG. Furthermore, the intramuscular fat and internal fat contained high percentages of PUFA and SFA and high PUFA/SFA and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratios. Interestingly, the percentage of OFA content in the internal and intramuscular fat tissues decreased with increasing slaughter age. In conclusion, this study provided evidence that slaughter age and muscle and fat type are essential sources of variations in the textural characteristics, sensory panel attributes and fatty acid profile of meat from Holstein Friesian bulls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research was to determine the effects of different initial fattening ages on the fattening performance, carcass features, and meat quality traits of Holstein Friesian bulls. A total of 24 Holstein-Friesian intact males were used in the study. The bulls were allocated to the initial fattening age groups named as Young Group (8-10 months old) (YG), Middle Aged Group (12-14 months old) (MAG) and Older Group (15-17 months old) (OG) and then placed in the feedlot based on three age groups at feedlot entry. The data that has normal distribution were analysed by using the LSMM in GLM, while others were analysed by using the nonparametric Kruskal - Wallis H test. The average daily weight gain of the YG, MAG and OG were 1.09 ± 0.27 kg, 1.01 ± 0.48 kg and 0.95 ± 0.60 kg (p < 0.01), respectively. Additionally, YG was the most effective group in terms of feed efficiency ratio (FER) compared to others. However, carcass measurements and carcass weight had lower values in the YG. Effects of age at feedlot entry had also insignificant effect on the carcass traits. Besides, measurements of the carcass muscularity including area of Musculus longissimus dorsi (MLD), SEUROP carcass conformation scores of the bulls in the MAG, and OG were superior to Holstein Friesian bulls in the YG. Different initial fattening ages had no significant effects on the chemical composition of MLD samples except for percentage of protein value. In conclusion, taking animals into feedlot at early ages resulted in accelerated weight gain, higher marbled meat, and improvement of the FER of Holstein Friesian bulls reared in harsh environmental conditions of the Eastern Turkey. However, the young animals had the lowest carcass weights and carcass measurements along with muscularity parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]