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Every scientist is required to publish their work, a process that gives creditability to their findings and provides a platform for the real-life application of the findings. Although the conduct of experiments is the core of much scientific work, there is sadly a percentage of studies that are based on flawed designs or written by authors who do not understand how to robustly analyse the data they generate. The consequence is that when they attempt to publish in reputable journals, they often have their papers rejected. In other cases, authors may fail to consider the scope of a target journal, their papers are poorly written, or not formatted according to the journal's guidelines. These again lead to rejection. Overall, this presents a large cost to the research and development (R&D) sector, as some work will never get published, and therefore, the investment has yielded zero returns. In addition, the time spent revising papers adds to the overall cost of undertaking R&D. In many cases, better training can help to reduce these costs and significantly improve the scientific output of scientists. This paper is designed to help authors to improve their success rate when attempting to publish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB‐N) as a quality parameter for fish is rapidly growing to include other types of meat. Investigations of meat quality have recently focused on TVB‐N as an index of freshness, but little is known on the biochemical pathways involved in its generation. Furthermore, TVB‐N and methylated amines have been reported to exert deterimental health effects, but the relationship between these compounds and human health has not been critically reviewed. Here, literature on the formative pathways of TVB‐N has been reviewed in depth. The association of methylated amines and human health has been critically evaluated. Interventions to mitigate the effects of TVB‐N on human health are discussed. TVB‐N levels in meat can be influenced by the diet of an animal, which calls for careful consideration when using TVB‐N thresholds for regulatory purposes. Bacterial contamination and temperature abuse contribute to significant levels of post‐mortem TVB‐N increases. Therefore, controlling spoilage factors through a good level of hygiene during processing and preservation techniques may contribute to a substantial reduction of TVB‐N. Trimethylamine (TMA) constitutes a significant part of TVB‐N. TMA and trimethylamine oxide (TMA‐N‐O) have been related to the pathogenesis of noncommunicable diseases, including atherosclerosis, cancers, and diabetes. Proposed methods for mitigation of TMA and TMA‐N‐O accumulation are discussed, which include a reduction in their daily dietary intake, control of internal production pathways by targeting gut microbiota, and inhibition of flavin monooxygenase 3 enzymes. The levels of TMA and TMA‐N‐O have significant health effects, and this should, therefore, be considered when evaluating meat quality and acceptability. Agreed international values for TVB‐N and TMA in meat products are required. The role of feed, gut microbiota, and translocation of methylated amines to muscles in farmed animals requires further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Norway is the largest sheep meat producer in Scandinavia and Norwegian Muslims are expected to double in population in the next decade, the overall local per capita red meat consumption is still low. Meanwhile, Norwegian Muslims' purchasing preferences on lamb meat products have not been investigated. This paper presents the results of a choice-based conjoint survey which would help stakeholders to understand the niche Muslim immigrant halal meat market and potentially increase meat consumption. Post-hoc market segmentation was performed using latent class analysis, and factors affecting consumers' purchase intentions were studied within each segment. Results show that purchasing halal meat from a butcher was the top preference while there was a higher willingness to purchase from national supermarkets among younger second-generation Pakistanis. In order to benefit from niche halal meat market, Norwegian supermarkets are recommended to adapt some of the services that halal butchers are offering to their consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the effects of low doses of gamma radiation (up to 2.0 kGy) on the survival and growth of Listeria monocytogenes and on technological characteristics of RTE cooked hams, formulated without and with 50 and 150 mg/kg of sodium nitrite, after 30 days of cold (4°C) storage. The radiation reduced from 0.33 kGy in uncured and RTE50 to 0.25 kGy in RTE150 and after storage, a reduction (p >.05) in the Listeria growth in the cured samples. Irradiation had no effect (p >.05) on the pH, water activity, residual nitrite, lipid oxidation, or CIELCH color indices of RTE hams, regardless of the nitrite content. Higher TBARS values, chroma, and hue angle were observed (p <.05) in uncured samples than in cured ones. The RTE50 with irradiation by 1.0 to 2.0 kGy can be used to ensure the Listeria safety. Practical applications: Meat RTE products post‐thermal manipulation, like in slicing operations, may result in an enhanced microbial risk, especially regard to Listeria postprocessing contamination. Therefore, post‐lethality treatments like gamma irradiation are of interest to the industry to ensure food safety. Combining the lower doses of irradiation with low nitrite content in RTE meats could be used to guarantee microbial safety, minimizing irradiation‐induced quality changes, and contributing to the sensory and technological characteristics of the products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was aimed to investigate the muscle-specific beef color stability at normal and high ultimate pHs. Methods: The impact of muscle (Longissimus lumborum [LL] vs psoas major [PM]) and pH (normal ultimate pH [Np] vs high pH dark cutting beef [Hp]) on color stability, indicated by basic color traits, metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA) and oxygen consumption (OC), as well as the lipid oxidation, were determined over 7 days of display at 4°C. Results: Hp-LL had the highest pH (6.92), followed by Hp-PM (6.01), Np-PM (5.76), and Np-LL (5.52). Hp-LL had increased (p<0.05) a*, chroma and % oxymyoglobin during display. Hp-LL also had the highest metmyoglobin (MMb) reducing activity and OC among all the samples, thus, the greatest color stability, although very dark throughout storage, with lowest values for lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*). Np-LL also exhibited relatively high color stability, as a result of its lower % MMb and OC and higher MRA than psoas muscle samples. The 0.2 unit difference of the pH between Hp and Np psoas muscle, resulted in the difference of the color intensity, not the color stability. Interestingly, high pH psoas muscle (Hp-PM) did not have better color stability than Np-PM, and in fact had lower color stability than even Np-LL. The similar level of OC and lipid oxidation cannot explain the difference in color stability between Hp-PM and Np-LL. Conclusion: The Hp does not always show better color stability compared with Np beef, which depends on the muscle type. The balance of MRA and OC is important to keep the color in great intensity and stability in the meantime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diet of cattle has been shown to alter both subcutaneous fat and muscle fatty acid composition, and these differences cause a change in the Raman spectra of the fat due to the different chemical bonds associated with these biochemical changes. Because biochemical changes only lead to subtle changes in the Raman spectra, statistical methods based upon chemometric modelling are necessary to extract indicative information on the type of feed consumed. This investigation undertook a feasibility study using a limited sample set derived from two producers in one location to ascertain the potential for Raman spectroscopy to accurately discriminate grain‐fed cattle from grass‐fed cattle and investigated the usefulness of principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminate analysis (PLS‐DA) to best discriminate between feeding groups using the information from the Raman spectra. The first two principal components accounted for 83% of the variation in the spectra and demonstrated discrimination of samples by feed type. PLS‐DA resulted in a model that was able to accurately predict grain‐ and grass‐fed carcases with a misclassification rate of 3.5%. Changes in beef cattle diets lead to subtle changes in subcutaneous fat; using Raman spectroscopy with chemometric modelling, these changes can be identified and used to identify the production system of beef products. This study successfully uses Raman spectroscopy as an automated, nondestructive and rapid technique in the range of 600–2000 cm−1 in combination with pattern recognition of unsupervised (PCA) and supervised (PLS‐DA) techniques to classify the production system of cattle between grain and grass fed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the age of the cattle is important in the cattle industry especially for trading purposes. Dentition and ossification scores are currently used to estimate the age of cattle. Both these methods have limitations which can create significant differences in carcass value. In this study, a fibre-optic probe-based spatially resolved diffuse reflectance spectroscopy system was used to investigate the possibility of using visible-near-infrared spectra for predicting the chronological age of beef cattle. This investigation was carried out on hide samples taken from 80 cattle with accurate date of birth and of the same breed. Spectra of hide samples taken from the neck area were used to build partial least squares models to estimate the age of the cattle. Various empirical pre-processing methods and wavelength selection using genetic algorithm (GA) were used to investigate whether these approaches could enhance model performance. Model performance was evaluated using the repeated learning-testing (RLT) method. A model with the lowest average root mean square error of prediction (ARMSEP) of 2.0 years was obtained when reflected intensity spectra collected from a source-detector distance of 1.0 mm was used after pre-processing with automatic Whittaker filter and applying wavelength selection using GA indicating the feasibility of this method for estimating the age of cattle. Two approaches for utilising measurements from all the source-detector distances collected by the spatially resolved measurement system were also considered. Both these approaches, co-adding and data fusion through augmentation, led to poorer model performance compared to using measurements from only one source-to-detector distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the relationship between sensory evaluation and several objective metrics of beef tenderness was tested. Objective metrics included shear force, sarcomere length, collagen content, myofibrillar, and sarcoplasmic protein solubility and particle size analysis. These results were compared to consumer panel scores of tenderness for the same aged beef striploin (longissimus lumborum muscle) samples. There was found to be a significant relationship between sarcomere length, shear force, and particle size with tenderness scores. Collagen content and protein solubilities were not associated to tenderness scores (p > 0.05). Sarcomere length contributions for explaining tenderness variation were overlapped by the contributions of shear force (collinearity). Independent models demonstrated that the lower 95% confidence interval of the fitted regression line exceeded 50% acceptance of tenderness when shear force values <42.6 N and when particle size values <198 μm. We can recommend these as thresholds for consumer acceptance of beef tenderness, although considerations of sample type, analytical methodology, and consumer demographics should be made prior to their adoption. This provision was based on the variation in tenderness scores evident between individual panelists and experimental striploins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) for distinguishing different beef cuts was investigated. Six different retail beef cuts (rump, Scotch fillet, round, chuck, tenderloin, and T‐bone) were analysed spectroscopically using SORS. This technique makes it possible to measure the Raman signal 5 mm below the surface of meat muscles, allowing non‐invasive analysis of meat samples that are not readily feasible using conventional Raman spectroscopy. This study has shown for the first time that monitoring of the changes in glycogen, fat, and protein content of muscles can be investigated directly and, most importantly, non‐invasively within various meat cuts. The spectral results reveal differences in structure‐sensitive bands from the amide I and III regions as well as from cysteine, glutamic acid, and phenylalanine vibrations. Statistical analysis confirms these observations based on strong clustering of SORS bands (this was derived from principal component analysis scores of the SORS data) measured for the different cuts. Highlights: Deep Raman spectroscopy was employed to investigate the subsurface composition of meatNon‐invasive differentiation of dissimilar meat cutsIdentification of biomarker bands for each individual meat cutsStatistical analysis clustering of each meat cut confirmed the spectroscopic results [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The global population is becoming older, and still, this cohort considers red meat (beef and sheep meat) as an important staple in their diet. It is understood that the requirements from these red meats will vary as a person ages, often because of associated physiological changes; nutrition and health concerns; and reduced sensorial capacities. This creates an imperative to develop red meat products that appeal and satisfy the demands of elderly people. Here, we have reviewed current literature with the aim to comprehend the elderly consumer market, their demands for nutritive and quality traits, and their requirements for safe and convenient red meat (beef and sheep) products. Based on these studies, it was apparent that these specifications may be delivered using available knowledge of intrinsic and extrinsic influences on red meat if considered within the context of elderly customers, that is, to deliver upon elderly people's requirements for conventional red meat products which are inexpensive, of consistent and perceivable high quality, and quell any associated health concerns for the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chilling procedures have been widely used in livestock abattoirs since the development of refrigeration systems. The major criteria when applying chilling regimes is not only complying with regulations, but economic concerns, and also meat safety and quality assurance requirements. Given recent developments, an updated review is required to guide the industry to choose the best chilling method and to inspire the development of new approaches to chilling. Thus in this paper, the quality and microbial safety of beef, lamb, pork, venison, and bison resulting from different chilling treatments has been reviewed, as well as the underlying mechanism(s) for the different impacts on meat quality traits as a result of different chilling regimes. The effect of fast chilling on the tenderness of beef and lamb is a focus, as some new findings, have recently been reported, while multistep chilling is highlighted as it incorporates the advantages of fast chilling to reduce carcass weight loss, resulting in similar quality improvements as found with slow chilling. It is, suggested, that if spray chilling can be combined with the second phase of multi‐step chilling, it will benefit the meat industry in terms of both meat quality and safety. Future studies should focus on combinations of chilling methods with new technologies, such as medium voltage electrical stimulation, muscle stretching, or ultrasound and so on, to move meat quality and safety to a new level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Loins from fifty-six lambs were allocated to 2 ageing times (6 and 12 days post mortem) and a Frozen treatment (6 days of ageing followed by freeze/thaw process). Instrumental colour parameters, chroma, hue angle, 630/580 and myoglobin isoforms were assessed repeatedly every 5 min during the first 40 min and every 10 min from 40 to 120 min after surface cutting. Colour stability was measured instrumentally during 4 consecutive days of simulated retail display. L * values were lower for Frozen treatment compared to meat aged for 6 and 12 days. Redness increased at a lower rate for Frozen treatment compared to samples aged for 6 days up to the breakpoint and took a longer time to stabilize. Meat subjected to the ageing-freezing/thaw process required a longer time to reach a fully bloomed status than meat aged up to 12 days post mortem. The ageing-freezing/thaw process improved the redness of lamb meat displayed for 4 days in cold storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatially off-set Raman spectroscopy (SORS) offers non-invasive chemical characterisation of the sub-surface of various biological tissues as it permits the assessment of diffusely scattering samples at depths of several orders of magnitude deeper than conventional Raman spectroscopy. Chemicals such as glycogen, glucose, lactate and cortisol are predictors of meat quality, however detection of these chemicals is limited to the surface of meat using conventional Raman spectroscopy as their concentration is higher within the tissue. Here, we have used SORS to detect spectral bands for glycogen, lactate, glucose and cortisol beneath the surface of meat tissue by spiking. To our knowledge, this is the first report on this method for potential application in meat quality analysis. We further validate our SORS spectral results using chemometric analysis to determine chemical-specific spectral characteristics suitable for chemical identification. The chemometric analysis clearly shows distinction of spiked metabolites into four distinct groups, even for such chemically similar compounds as glucose, glycogen and lactate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The bolar blade, striploin and topside cuts from dark cutting (DC) and normal (nDC) beef carcasses were compared in terms of their eating quality, oxidation and colour traits. Carcass grades were assigned so that striploins assessed to have pH > 5.7 were classified DC. Cuts were aged (14 and 28 d) before their shear force, sarcomere length, ultimate pH, particle size, TBARS, drip and cooking losses, and colour stability traits were analysed. DC effects on tenderness traits were not uniform across all cuts. Only TBARS was influenced by grade and ageing period interactions. Colorimetric variation due to grade was more evident in the striploin than the other cuts, although this was independent to ageing or display. Cuts themselves differed and were impacted by ageing and display periods. It was concluded that unlike the topside and striploin, the bolar blade from DC carcasses had comparable quality to nDC and could therefore retain its value if priced independent to the entire carcasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary lycopene powder on meat quality and the oxidative stability of lipid and protein of longissimus thoracis (LT) in lamb. A total of 30 male lambs were randomly sampled from three feeding groups (control without lycopene supplement, 200 and 400 mg kg−1 lycopene powder respectively) after 3 months of feeding. The muscle samples were taken after slaughter and stored at 4 °C for 7 days. RESULTS: Compared with the control, the results showed that supplementation with lycopene powder gave a higher a* value (redness), and increased the levels of vitamin A and vitamin E. Increasing dietary lycopene powder resulted in a lower degree of lipid and protein oxidation, as evidenced by lower contents of thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substance and carbonyl compounds, and higher levels of sulfhydryl groups. CONCLUSION: Dietary lycopene powder is an effective antioxidant that blocks the oxidation of meat proteins and lipids, and has a positive effect on increasing lamb meat quality during storage. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We compared the capacity for the Nix Colour Sensor Pro™ (NIX) and HunterLab MiniScan™ (HUNTER) to detect colour variation using aged (0, 3 and 5 weeks) and then displayed (0, 1, 2 and 3 d) beef M. longissimus lumborum samples (n = 8). NIX L* and hue values were found to be respectively higher and lower than for the HUNTER. No significant interactions between instrument and display or ageing periods were identified for a* – unlike for b* and chroma where NIX measures were observed to be lower than those from the HUNTER. Both instruments identified ageing and display period effects on colorimetric traits. Based on these results, the NIX cannot be considered comparable to the HUNTER when measuring beef colour – albeit captured similar colorimetric trends over display and ageing periods which suggest its independent usefulness to beef colour assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated a microwave (Mw) cooking method for determining beef toughness using the Warner–Bratzler slice shear force (WBsSF) protocol. Longissimus thoracis muscles were aged for 1, 10, 19, and 28 days at 4C. They were then either cooked on a clam‐shell grill until reaching an internal temperature of 72C, in a Mw for 100 s at maximum power (Mw100) or for 140 s at 60% of maximum power (Mw60). Cooking loss and shear force (SF) values were higher in Mw samples than in grilled ones. SF assessment by grill and Mw100 were able to discriminate tenderness by aging times in the same way as the sensory panel. The SF measured in a grilled sample had higher repeatability (R = .74) and correlation with sensory scores (r = −.79) than Mw100 (R = .61; r = −.62) and Mw60 (R = .51; r = −.53). Mw100 can be considered as an appropriate alternative for the WBsSF protocol. Practical applications: Tenderness is the most important attribute for consumers. Many studies have evaluated tenderness in meat and different protocols for cooking. This work was intended to optimize and evaluate the use of the microwave as a cooking method for shear force determination, against a standard protocol and establish the correlation to sensory tenderness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic correlations between 16 meat quality and nutritional value traits and live weight at various ages, live ultrasound fat and muscle depth, carcass measures, and carcass dissection traits were estimated for Merino sheep in the Information Nucleus (IN). Genetic correlations between live weight at various ages and the carcass traits are also reported. The IN comprised 8 genetically linked flocks managed across a range of Australian sheep environments. Meat quality traits included between 1,200 and 1,300 records for progeny from over 170 sires for intramuscular fat (IMF), lean meat yield (LMY), shear force (SF5), pH, meat color, and meat nutritional value traits including iron and zinc levels and long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels. The genetic correlations indicated that selection of Merino sheep to either reduce fat or increase muscle using ultrasound assessments will result in little change in IMF and SF5. Myoglobin levels would tend to be reduced following selection for reduced ultrasound fat depth (0.35 ± 0.21, 0.43 ± 0.14), whereas increases in myoglobin levels would occur due to selection for increased ultrasound muscle depth (0.25 ± 0.24, 0.38 ± 0.15). Selection for increased live weight will result in favorable correlated responses in hot carcass weight (0.76 to 0.97), dressing percentage (0.13 to 0.47), and carcass muscle (0.37 to 0.95), but unfavorable responses of increases in carcass fatness (0.13 to 0.65) and possible small reductions in muscle oxidative activity (−0.13 ± 0.14 to −0.73 ± 0.33) and iron content (−0.14 ± 0.15 to −0.38 ± 0.16), and a possible deterioration of shear force from selection at later ages (0.15 ± 0.26, 0.27 ± 0.24). Negligible changes are generally expected for LMY and meat color traits following selection for increased live weight (most genetic correlations less than 0.20 in size). Selection for increased LMY would tend to result in unfavorable changes in several aspects of meat quality, including reduced IMF (−0.27 ± 0.18), meat tenderness (0.53 ± 0.26), and meat redness (−0.69 ± 0.40), as well as reduced iron levels (−0.25 ± 0.22). These genetic correlations are a first step in assisting the development of breeding values for new traits to be incorporated into genetic evaluation programs to improve meat production from Merino sheep and other dual-purpose sheep breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]