Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXIX, Issue 2
Written by Oana Diana MIHAI, Carmen Daniela PETCU, Dana TĂPĂLOAGĂ, Corina PREDESCU, Gheorghe Valentin GORAN, Elena MITRĂNESCU, Emanuela BADEA, Oana Mărgărita GHIMPEȚEANU, Emilia CIOBOTARU-PÎRVU
Over time, meat has played an essential role in human evolution and is an important component of a healthy and balanced diet, a fact due to the nutritional richness that varies depending on a number of factors. Pre-slaughter stress is a crucial factor in meat quality and safety. Animals intended for slaughter are stressed by a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors. Slaughter is a complex process, and there is clear evidence in the literature, that pre-slaughter stress is harmful to the meat quality. Therefore, the purpose of stunning is to render animals unconscious during bleeding, without causing pain or stress. In some countries, cattle are slaughtered by a religious method, without stunning, namely the halal slaughter practiced by Muslims and the kosher slaughter practiced by Jews. The study was carried out during 2020-2022, on two batches of conventionally slaughtered cattle (with stunning), on one batch of halal slaughtered cattle (without stunning and on one batch of traditionally slaughtered cattle (without stunning). Within the slaughterhouses, the technological flow of slaughtering cattle was followed and blood samples were collected in order to extract serum and dose cortisol. Cortisol was dosed in a specialized laboratory using the immunoenzymatic method with chemiluminescence detection. Comparing the analyzed batches, it can be seen that higher average values of the cortisol level were recorded in the batches slaughtered in the traditional halal system, compared to the conventionally slaughtered batches. The values recorded for all four batches, exceed the reference range of 0.47-0.75 μg/dL. Excessive handling of cattle induces their stress, therefore special attention must be paid to the rest period before slaughter, to physiologically rebalance the body, but also to the slaughtering process, to minimize stress levels and ultimately improve meat quality obtained, because it has been shown that there is a direct correlation between the quality of the meat and the way the animals are slaughtered, more precisely with stunning or without stunning.
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