Meat quality of Limousin young bulls slaughtered at 6, 9 and 12 months of age

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of meat of the young Limousin bulls slaughtered at the age of 6, 9 and 12 months, with particular regard to the residual glycogen content in the meat and the value of the glycolytic potential. The study was conducted on bovine longissimus lumborum muscle. The residual glycogen content, glycolytic potential value (96 h post-mortem), pH value (45 min, 24 h, 48 h and 96 h post-mortem), IMP/ATP index (45 min post-mortem), colour parameters (L*, a* and b*), natural and cooking losses, free water content, the chemical composition, sensory parameters (aroma, flavour, juiciness and tenderness) as well as instrumental tenderness based on cutting test (96 h post-mortem) were analysed. The slaughter age of bulls had significant (p<0.05) effect on following meat parameters: concentration of glycogen, glycolytic potential value, lightness (L*) and redness (a*), shear force value, intramuscular fat content and sensory evaluation of aroma, flavour, juiciness and tenderness. The longissimus lumborum muscle from young bulls slaughtered at the age of 6 months had significantly (p<0.05) lower values for glycogen concentration, glycolytic potential and intramuscular fat content when compared to animals slaughtered at the age of 12 months. Moreover, the colour of the examined muscle from the youngest bulls was characterised by the highest L* value and the lowest a* value as well as the lowest shear force value when compared to the meat of older bulls slaughtered at the age of 9 and 12 months.