Replacing corn bran and soybean meal in the diet with spineless cactus and cottonseed affects ingestive behaviour, performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of Murrah water buffalo

Abstract

Context The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a valuable species in part because it is a multipurpose animal; its milk, horns and skin are all useful, and its meat is rich and nutritious. However, water buffalo meat still suffers many marketing restrictions. Aims The present study evaluated performance, ingestive behaviour, carcass characteristics and meat quality. Methods We examined the meat of 24 Murrah water buffaloes that weighed 287.8±1.8 kg and were divided into four groups that received 0, 250, 500 or 750 g/kg dry matter (DM) of a 3:2 blend of spineless cactus–cottonseed (henceforth, referred to as the blend) for 125 days in a completely randomised design. Key results The inclusion of the blend resulted in diets with increased moisture and crude protein intake at 250 g/kg inclusion and reduced intakes of non-fibrous carbohydrates and total digestible nutrients per kilogram DM, which led to an increased DM intake, but significantly lower (P<0.001) final bodyweight, average daily gain, and hot carcass weight, thus resulting in a significantly lower (P< 0.001) growth efficiency. Moreover, there was a reduction in the ammonia-nitrogen concentration and time spent drinking (P≤0.05). The ruminal pH and time spent feeding, chewing and defecating increased (P≤0.05), the fat content and colour parameters of the water buffalo meat increased, and the shear force decreased (P≤0.05) in response to the inclusion of the 3:2 blend of spineless cactus–cottonseed in the diet. The time spent on both rumination and urination, most of the physicochemical properties, and the consumer appeal of the meat, were not affected by the inclusion of the blend (P>0.05). Conclusion The 3:2 blend of spineless cactus–cottonseed is not an effective replacement for corn bran and soybean meal in buffalo diets because, despite improving the rumen pH, the blend reduces the performance and carcass characteristics of the water buffalo. However, the fat content, coloration and softness of the meat improved, which is of commercial importance. Implications The inclusion of the spineless cactus–cottonseed blend in place of the high-concentrate diet did not affect the consumer appeal of the meat. The meat characteristics were scored as ‘like moderately’ (6–7 on a 9-point hedonic scale). On the basis of the scores of the panellists, all of the meats were well accepted.