Body composition and venison quality of farmed red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) hinds reared on grass, <i>papilionaceous</i> or mixed pasture paddocks

• Main Authors: J. Nagy, A. Szabó, T. Donkó, J. Bokor, R. Romvári, I. Repa, P. Horn, H. Fébel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2019-04-01
• Series: Archives Animal Breeding
• Online Access: https://www.arch-anim-breed.net/62/227/2019/aab-62-227-2019.pdf
• ISSN: 0003-9438; 2363-9822

<p>Red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) hinds (<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi>n</mi><mo>=</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">3</mn><mo>×</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">10</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="51pt" height="10pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="fbb011d2bac0087f6efceec4179402d6"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="aab-62-227-2019-ie00001.svg" width="51pt" height="10pt" src="aab-62-227-2019-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>) of identical initial body weight (BW, ca. 68&thinsp;kg) were reared on a monocotyledonous grass (G group), on a grass–<i>papilionaceous</i> (GP group) or on pure papilionaceous pasture each of 2&thinsp;ha (P group) for 219 d. At the end of the experiment carcass tissue composition was assessed by means of computer tomography, slaughter value and meat quality were characterized and tissue – <i>longissimus thoracis et lumborum</i> (LTL), thigh and liver – samples were taken for fatty acid composition analysis. The primary aim was to assess nutrition-driven differences.</p> <p>Hinds of group P provided higher final BW (101&thinsp;kg vs. 90 and 91.9&thinsp;kg in groups G and GP, respectively) and higher BW gain (32.6&thinsp;kg during the total period vs. 22.4 and 22.1&thinsp;kg). The carcass weight exceeded those of the other groups significantly (68.8&thinsp;kg vs. 59.3 and 63.2&thinsp;kg), while there was no difference among groups in the perirenal fat weight and red color tone (<span class="inline-formula"><i>a</i>^*</span>) of the LTL. Groups G and P differed significantly in the LTL weight (highest in P), its dripping loss (lowest in G), lightness (L; highest in P) and yellow color tone (<span class="inline-formula"><i>b</i>^*</span>).</p> <p>In the thigh muscle, LTL and liver the highest proportion of fatty acid CLA9c11t was reached on the G pasture, and the same trend was true for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA , C22:6 n3) in the muscles. The n6&thinsp;<span class="inline-formula">∕</span>&thinsp;n3 fatty acid ratio was the highest on the P pasture in the liver and both muscles. The liver incorporated the highest proportion of linoleic acid (C18:2 n6) and converted it rather effectively to arachidonic acid (C20:4 n6), coupled with the lowest <span class="inline-formula"><i>α</i></span>-linolenic acid presence.</p> <p>In conclusion, concerning muscle mass production, group P proved to be the most advantageous pasture; meanwhile LTL meat quality factors (dripping loss, DHA proportion, pH, color) were more favorable on the G pasture.</p>