Comparison of processing characteristics of meat from young male, spent male and spent female buffaloes
was made to find the suitability of the meat for developing ready to eat meat products. Intensively
reared young male buffalo meat showed higher moisture, collagen solubility, sarcomere length, myofibrillar
fragmentation index and water holding capacity than meat from the other animals. A higher pH, total
meat pigments, salt soluble protein, emulsifying capacity and lower collagen solubility were observed in
spent male buffalo meat. Spent female buffalo meat had higher fat, total collagen, muscle fibre diameter
and shear force value. Sensory evaluation of pressure cooked meat chunks indicated a marked toughness
in spent male and female buffalo meat samples. These results suggest that young male buffalo meat is
more suitable for processing in chunks and spent male and female buffalo meat is more suitable for processing
in smaller particles