Impact of animal stress on eating quality of beef studied by cell model systems (209752)

-

For the industry a predictable meat quality is essential, with tenderness, juiciness, binding properties and shelf-life being the most important quality attributes. Animal welfare and stress before slaughter are important both from an ethical point of vie w, but also for the subsequent eating quality of meat and meat products. In addition, ante- and post-slaughter conditions such as genetics, feeding, rearing conditions, transport, slaughter conditions, and post mortem handling of the carcasses and cuts wi ll affect the subsequent eating quality. Still, there is an expressed need for more knowledge on the responses to these stressors at the cellular and molecular level. Using muscle cell cultures as models for an increased understanding of these responses h as gained attention in the scientific community over the last few years. Understanding the fundamental cellular mechanisms in relation to these stressors will provide us with the tools that are crucial in selection of animals for breeding that are robust towards stress, have a desired muscle growth and finally also produce meat of good quality. We want to explore the cellular and molecular events occurring in the ante- and post mortem muscles relevant for final meat quality using cell culture models. Thi s will provide detailed information without including animal experiments that could otherwise have ethical constraints. To our knowledge this has not been studied in bovine muscles. The understanding of the molecular events will be important for the unde rstanding of animal stress, which in turn affects meat quality and muscle growth.