Abstract:
This study aimed to evaluate the influences of electrical stimulation (ES), age at slaughter, and breed
type on muscle pH, the decline in carcass temperature, and meat quality attributes of Sudanese indigenous
Baggara cattle. Eighty Baggara bulls, representative of Nyalawi (n = 40) and Mesairi (n = 40) breed types,
were selected at their typical marketing age of about 4.5 years. Electrical stimulation was applied for 30
seconds at 20 minutes post mortem to 20 randomly selected carcasses from each breed type and compared
with 20 carcasses from each type that were not electrically stimulated (NES). Samples of the Longissimus
dorsi muscle were collected for meat analyses. Breed type showed no significant influence on meat quality
characteristics, while ES and age at slaughter did. Electrical stimulation accelerated the carcass pH decline
significantly up to 24 hours post mortem. Meat from electrically stimulated carcasses and younger animals
resulted in higher L* values, lower a* values, higher hue values, and better tenderness. Older Mesairi
animals had darker meat than their younger counterparts. Electrical stimulation reduced water-holding
capacity (WHC), although it had no influence on cooking loss (CL). Meat from older cattle showed better
WHC compared with meat from younger animals. The ES treatment decreased the variations in meat
tenderness between the younger and older bulls. It is concluded that the use of ES and younger bulls
produced more tender meat with better colour. Therefore, these practices should be adopted in Sudan to
ensure better beef quality management.
