Carnosine and anserine as biomarkers of beef meat quality

Meat quality is influenced by pre-slaughter events such as breed, age, environment, stress and post-slaughter events such as carcass pH and temperature, electrical stimulation. All these factors can facilitate the interaction of prooxidants with the cellular macromolecules resulting in the generation of free radicals and the propagation of oxidative reactions. The oxidation is a major deterioration reaction which often results in a significant loss of meat product quality. Carnosine and anserine are naturally occurring skeletal muscle dipeptides. Their function is not completely understood, but they are thought to act both as buffering agents and as antioxidants in vitro e in vivo. The aim of this study was to evaluate the carnosine and anserine content in muscles of conventionally processed young bulls of two different breeds (Charolais and Limousine) raised in 4 different intensive-farms. All young bulls of both races were divided in two categories based on the animal health conditions :“Maximum” and “Minimum” and following the bulls slaughtering muscles were analyzed after 3 and 7 days of storage at 2±0.5°C. Data indicate that the category “Maximum”, in both breeds, had a higher content of the two peptides compared with the “Minimum” category. The length of the ageing period and the breeding condition (type of breeding, farm, feeding etc) showed little or no influence on carnosine and anserine content.