3. RESULTS
3.1. Meat quality and sensory
evaluation
Ultimate pH, colour, ageing and grilling
loss, grilling time and shear force values
as objective measures of tenderness
were not significantly affected by the dietary
energy source (Tab. II). The average
of the ultimate pH values was 5.62
with only minor variations. Differences in
colour values (lightness: L; redness: a*
and yellowness: b*) did not reach significance
among the three groups, but the
grass silage group (GSS) showed slightly
lower lightness (L) values and exhibited
less saturation in colour (less redness and
yellowness values) compared to the maize
groups (MSW and MSC). A similar trend
was noted in the ageing and grilling loss
values; numerically the MSC group had
lower values for the grilling time and shear
force values (more tender) compared to the
MSW and the GSS group.
Tenderness, juiciness and flavour evaluation
by the panelists are presented
in Table III. Non-significant differences
were detected for tenderness and juiciness
scores (subjective measure). Flavour evaluation
showed that feeding the MSC diet
significantly improved meat flavour compared
to the GSS diet.