Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman | ALES Graduate Seminar

A graduate exam seminar is a presentation of the student’s final research project for their degree.
This is an ALES MSc Final Exam Seminar by Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman. This seminar is open to the general public to attend.

Thesis Topic: Effect of deboning time, ageing period and collagen characteristics on horse Semimembranosus meat quality

MSc with Drs. Heather Bruce and Lynn McMullen.

Seminar Abstract:

Horse meat is a good source of iron and unsaturated fatty acids, which make it a suitable substitute for conventional meat. To sustain its consumer acceptance in a competitive global market, ensuring that Canadian horse meat is of the highest quality is of prime importance. To do this, time of deboning and length of post mortem ageing were investigated. Semimembranosus muscles (n = 36) were collected over four consecutive weeks from the right side of horse carcasses de-boned at 17, 26 and 30 h post mortem (n = 12 per week, 4 at each post mortem period) and steaks from the muscles were aged for 3, 30, 60 and 90 days (n = 36 per period).  Meat L* (lightness) decreased (p<0.05) while b*(yellowness) increased with increasing length of deboning time and ageing period. Purge loss increased with increasing ageing period (p<0.05) and was highest at 17h deboning throughout the ageing period. Warner Bratzler shear force (WBSF) decreased with length of ageing time (P < 0.05). Muscle perimysium (r = -0.52, p < 0.001), muscle collagen (r = -0.35, p < 0.05) and intramuscular fat (r = -0.38, p < 0.05) contents were negatively correlated with WBSF. Perimysial collagen (r = 0.47, p<0.05) and pyridinoline (r = 0.37, p < 0.05) concentrations and muscle pH (r = 0.46, p < 0.05) were positively correlated with WBSF. Muscle pH, perimysial collagen concentration and intramuscular fat collectively explained 53% of the total variation in WBSF, while 63% of the variation in collagen heat solubility was explained collectively by muscle weight, Ehrlich chromogen concentration, purge loss and intramuscular fat. Results indicated that deboning at 26 h post mortem did not change horse semimembranosus quality relative to current practices, but sensory analysis is needed to ascertain the full impact of the meat quality changes observed at 30, 60, and 90 days ageing. Also confirmed was that collagen contributes to the WBSF of horse meat, supporting further investigation into the effects of animal age and breed on horse meat toughness.