The effect of starch source on physicochemical and sensory quality of veal meat

The influence on veal meat quality of replacing barley grain or dry maize (50% by weight) in feed mixtures for calves with ensiled high-moisture maize grain was investigated. Sixteen veal calves were assigned to 4 equal groups. No differences were found among the groups in the nutrient content of Musculus longissimus thoracis. The intramuscular fat of calves from groups fed ensiled maize grain was characterized by lower saturated fatty acids (SFA) and higher unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) contents compared with calves from groups receiving barley or dry maize grain (B, MD), but the differences were not significant (P=0.12). Calves fed with maize grain (dry or ensiled) had a lower monounsaturated (MUFA) to SFA ratio (0.68 vs 0.83 ± 0.01; P=0.03). Evaluation of the physicochemical properties of muscle meat showed that the analysed starch sources had no effect (P>0.05) on cooking loss and on pH measured 24 h and 7 days post-mortem. There were no differences between the groups in the other physicochemical characteristics of meat, i.e. tenderness and colour.