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Abstract
Sixty four young red deer (Cervus elaphus) stags (<2 years old) were slaughtered at
four different times (December (Group 1); n=17, March (Group 2); n=8, July (Group
3); n=20 and September (Group 4); n=19) to evaluate seasonal effects on venison quality.
M. longissimus dorsi samples for calpain analysis were collected on the slaughter
line and the rest of these muscles were collected at 1 day post-slaughter. Loins were
divided into four parts and randomly allocated to storage for 1 day, 3, 9 or 14weeks
at -1.5°C and then vacuum packaged. Seasonal variation was demonstrated in venison
pH. Highly significant positive regressions were found for shear force (P<0.001) and
colour display life (P<0.001) on pH, where higher pH values were associated with tougher
venison and longer colour display life. A clear trend of increasing fluid loss during
storage, calculated as amount of purge at 14 weeks of storage minus the amount of
drip loss at 1 day post-slaughter, was evident, averaging 2.5% (SEM 0.17) over the
four groups. The relative activities of the calpastatin-bound calpain, μ-calpain and
m-calpain all exhibited a seasonal pattern although there was no evidence (P>0.05)
that this affected tenderness. There was a highly significant (P<0.001) negative regression
for the average over the four storage times of drip and purge on calpastatin-bound
calpain activity.