Effects of ageing on the chemical composition and instrumental tenderness of swamp buffalo meat reared under an open grazing system

Meat ageing has been widely used to improve the palatability and acceptance of meat among consumers. In Malaysia, swamp buffalo are frequently used as labour and may cause toughness and reduce meat quality. Meat ageing is highly debated, and consumers worry about the deterioration of nutritive value. Six males reared under open grazing system, aged 18-24 months, and weighing at 290 ± 2.90 kg were slaughtered. 300g meat samples each from Longissimus dorsi (LD), Supraspinatus (SS) and Semitendinosus (ST) were collected. The ageing was determined at 1 day, 7 days and 14 days period. The proximate analysis for moisture, ash, crude fat, crude protein, cholesterol, and energy as well as the Warner-Bratzler shear force for tenderness was conducted. The moisture content of SS and ST was significantly reduced (p≤0.05) following ageing. However, the moisture content of LD remained unchanged (p≥0.05). Ageing also significantly lowered (p≤0.05) the crude fat content in SS and ST. Surprisingly, the crude fat content in LD showed the lowest among all the muscles (p≤0.05) only on day 1, while at other ageing periods, the difference was not significant (p≥0.05). The gross energy of LD and SS showed a significant reduction from day 1 to day 14 (p≤0.05). The tenderness of all muscles improved (p≤0.05) as the ageing increased, however, the comparative tenderness of all muscles was only observed at day 14 of ageing. It is firmly established that meat ageing improved tenderness but did not affect all the major nutritional compositions.