Histomorphology and Physical Characteristics of Buffalo Meat at Different Sex and Age

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate histology and physical variables of buffalo meat at different sex and ages. Thirty head of buffaloes were used in this experiment. Muscle fiber diameter, fasciculus diameter, thickness of connective tissue, pH, water holding capacity, Warner-Bratzler shear force and cooking loss were measured in this experiment. Analysis of variance of randomized fac-torial design was used to analyse the data. The differences were analysed by Tukey test. The result showed that muscle fiber diameter was influenced by ages. The difference muscle fiber diameter among ages indicated that 8-12 mo and 1.5 yr old have smaller diameter compared to three year old (P<0.05), but there was no differences between two, three and four years old. The fasciculus diam-eter, thickness of connective tissue, tenderness, pH value, water holding capacity, and cooking lost indicated no significant found in all stage of age and sex of samples. Meat qualities of buffaloes were not affected by age (2-4 yr) and sex.

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengevaluasi variabel histologi dan karakteristik fisik dag-ing kerbau pada jenis kelamin dan umur yang berbeda. Tiga puluh ekor kerbau digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Peubah yang diukur adalah diameter serabut otot, diameter fasikulus, ketebalan ja-ringan ikat, pH, daya mengikat air, tingkat keempukan (daya iris) dan susut masak. Rancangan acak lengkap pola faktorial digunakan untuk menganalisis data. Perbedaan antara perlakuan dianalisis dengan uji Tukey. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ukuran diameter serabut otot dipengaruhi oleh umur. Perbedaan diameter serabut otot antar umur menunjukkan bahwa umur 8–12 bulan dan 1,5 tahun memiliki diameter serabut otot yang lebih kecil dibandingkan dengan umur tiga tahun tapi tidak terdapat perbedaan diantara umur 2, 3, dan 4 tahun. Peubah diameter fasikulus, tebal jaringan ikat, keempukan, nilai pH, daya mengikat air dan susut masak menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada per-bedaan diantara umur dan jenis kelamin. Kualitas daging kerbau tidak dipengaruhi oleh umur (2-4 tahun) dan jenis kelamin