Physicochemical properties of meat of Italian Heavy Draught Horses (I.H.D.H.) slaughtered at the age of 11 months

¹ Department of Public Health and Zootechnics- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, S.P. per Casamassima, km 3. 70010-Valenzano (BA) – Italy

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: p.depalo{at}veterinaria.uniba.it.

	Abstract

To investigate rheological and chemical characteristics of the meat from Italian Heavy Draught Horse (IHDH), 24 foals (12 males and 12 females) were weaned at 6 months, reared and fed in the same way and slaughtered at 11 months old. The results obtained showed that there were no significant differences between the sexes but that the muscle type is a significant variation source. The Rectus femoris (RF) muscle was lighter and the Biceps femoris (BF) had a lower a* index than Longissimus dorsii (LD), RF and Semimembranosus (SM). The most tender muscle was the Semitendinosus (ST) and the toughest even after cooking was the BF. The male animals had a greater protein and lipid percentage. The acidic composition of the intramuscular fat showed a greater presence of monounsatured fatty acids (MUFA; P<0.05) in the females and of poliunsatured fatty acids (PUFA; P<0.01) in the males. Colorimetry analysis of the subcutaneous and perirenal fat from these animals indicated the unfavorable yellow color seen in adult animals had not yet been acquired. The meat produced had low redness due to the low myoglobin content, and high lightness. Besides, the low collagen content and its high solubility indicates an appreciable tenderness. The high level of unsaturation of the intramuscular fat, resulted in a high ratio of unsatured to satured fat, making horse meat favorable from a health point of view.

Key Words: foal meat, pH, color, tenderness, water holding capacity, fatty acids