Improving animal welfare status and meat quality through assessment of stress biomarkers: A critical review

Stress induces various physiological and biochemical alterations in the animal body, which are used to assess the stress status of animals. Blood profiles, serum hormones, enzymes, and physiological conditions such as body temperature, heart, and breathing rate of animals are the most commonly used stress biomarkers in the livestock sector. Previous exposure, genetics, stress adaptation, intensity, duration, and rearing practices result in wide intra-and inter-animal variations in the expression of various stress biomarkers. The use of meat proteomics by adequately analyzing the expression of various muscle proteins such as heat shock proteins (HSPs), acute phase proteins (APPs), texture, and tenderness biomarkers help predict meat quality and stress in animals before slaughter. Thus, there is a need to identify non-invasive, rapid, and accurate stress biomarkers that can objec-tively assess stress in animals. The present manuscript critically reviews various aspects of stress biomarkers in animals and their application in mitigating preslaughter stress in meat production.

Automated summary

Stress biomarkers such as blood profiles, serum hormones, and physiological conditions can be used to assess the stress status of animals. Factors including previous exposure, genetics, stress adaptation, intensity, duration, and rearing practices contribute to variations in the expression of stress biomarkers. Meat proteomics, specifically the analysis of muscle protein expression, can predict meat quality and stress in animals before slaughter. Finding non-invasive, rapid, and accurate stress biomarkers is essential for objectively assessing stress in animals.