Carcass yields and meat quality characteristics of adult emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) transported for 6 h before slaughter Deepa G. Menon a , Darin C. Bennett a , Bethany Uttaro b , Allan L. Schaefer b , Kimberly M. Cheng a, ⁎ a Avian Research Centre, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada b Lacombe Research Centre, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, 6000 C and E Trail, Lacombe, Alberta T4L 1W1, Canada abstract article info Article history: Received 22 August 2013 Received in revised form 13 March 2014 Accepted 30 May 2014 Available online 8 June 2014 Keywords: Emu Carcass yield Meat quality pH Drip loss Stress The meat quality characteristics of adult emus transported for 6 h before slaughter were determined. Forty-two emus were used in two trials, undertaken under warm and cool weather conditions, respectively. Male emus had significantly higher fat yields than females (12.43 kg vs 9.5 kg, P = 0.002). About 38.1% of the emus had no wounds or bruises, 40.5% had bruises, while 21.4% had small wounds after transport. Meat from injured emus had significantly higher pH 45 . In warm weather, emus experienced significantly higher loss in body weight than that under cool weather. Drip loss in meat after 24 h of storage was higher in emus which had greater live weight loss after transport (r = 0.66, P b 0.0001), confirming the adverse effects of transport stress on meat quality. Nutrient supplementation did not significantly affect processing yield or meat quality characteristics. This study points to the need for optimizing transport conditions of emus to maintain meat quality. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) are farmed primarily for their fat and the meat. The fat is rendered into oil, which has anti- inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, and is used in naturopath and veterinary medication (Abimosleh, Tran, & Howarth, 2012; Bennett, Code, Godin, & Cheng, 2008) and as a carrier in cosmetic applications (Zemstov, Gaddis, & Montalvo-Lugo, 1996). The meat is high in iron (Qiu, 1998) and low in fat and cholesterol (Beckerbauer et al., 2001). The age at which emus are slaughtered depends on which market (fresh meat verses oil) the producer primarily supplies into. Typically in North America, yearlings are used to supply the market for fresh meat, while older birds that have completed at least one breeding season are slaughtered for their fat to supply the oil market (Menon, Bennett, Wiseman, & Cheng, in prep). Because of lack of promotion and lack of quality standards, the meat from older birds is sometimes sold as pet food or processed into value added products such as salami, pepperoni and sausages. Previous studies have reported carcass yields and meat quality of younger birds (Berge, Lepetit, Renerre, & Touraille, 1997; Blake & Hess, 2004; Dingle, 1997; Frapple, O'Malley, Snowden, & Hagan, 1997; Sales, Horbanczuk, Dingle, Coleman, & Sensik, 1999), but adult birds have received little attention. Many emu farms are located in areas lacking slaughtering facilities that can process these birds (Michael, 2000). Emu producers often ship their flocks to slaughter plants at distant locations in order to get emus slaughtered at an inspected abattoir. Prolonged shipment exposes animals to stressful and adverse conditions (Mitchell & Kettlewell, 2009) which can result in physiological changes, and injuries (Smith, Grandin, Friend, Lay, & Swanson, 2004), often adversely affecting meat quality (Ali, Kang, & Seon, 2008). Emus are highly susceptible to stress (Menon, Bennett, Schaefer, & Cheng, 2014), and the effect of transport on emu carcass yields and meat quality has not been reported. Studies on other species have found that nutrient (electrolyte, dextrose, and amino acids) therapy (pre- or post-transport) helped to mitigate transport stress and improve meat quality (Onenc, 2010; Schaefer, Jones, Robertson, Brereton, & Jeremiah, 1995). It was recently shown that providing emus with an oral nutrient supplement before and after transport was effective in protecting them against muscle damage and allowed for a greater recovery of body weight losses during lairage (Menon et al., 2014). Hence, this study was undertaken to determine (1) the effects of transport stress, and (2) the impact of a nutrient supplement on the carcass yields and meat quality of adult emus. This study is the first to examine carcass yields and meat quality characteristics of adult emus and will contribute to the existing knowledge base of emus. 2. Materials and methods This study was conducted in collaboration with a commercial emu producer in Saskatchewan, Canada and was approved by the University Meat Science 98 (2014) 240–246 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 604 822 2408. E-mail address: kmtc@mail.ubc.ca (K.M. Cheng). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2014.05.027 0309-1740/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Meat Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci