Effect of dietary energy content on the intramuscular fat depots and triglyceride composition of river buffalo meat A. Di Luccia a , A. Satriani b , C.M.A. Barone c , P. Colatruglio c , S. Gigli d , M. Occidente e , E. Trivellone f , A. Zullo c, *, D. Matassino c,e a Dipartimento di Produzione animale, Universita ` degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola, 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy b IABBAM—CNR, 80147 Napoli, Italy c Dipartimento di Scienze zootecniche e Ispezione alimenti, T.M. Bettini, Via Universita `, 133, 80055 Portici, Napoli, Italy d Istituto Sperimentale per la Zootecnia, 00016 Monterotondo Scalo, Roma, Italy e Consorzio per la Sperimentazione, Divulgazione e Applicazione di Biotecniche Innovative (ConSDABI), Italian National Focal Point (NFP-I. FAO) for the Conservation of Animal Germplasm in Danger of Extinction, Azienda Casaldianni, 80020 Circello (BN), Italy f Servizio NMR—ICMIB—CNR, 80078 Pozzuoli, Napoli, Italy Received 27 June 2002; received in revised form 16 October 2002; accepted 18 February 2003 Abstract The production of river buffalo meat in Italy has long been under discussion due to poor acceptance by consumers. In order to understand whether dietary energy content may affect the organoleptic characteristics of buffalo meat, two groups of river buffalo calves were fed on two diets, with high (H) and low (L) energy contents. The animals were slaughtered at 4-monthly intervals starting from 6 months old (10, 14 and 18 months) and five muscles were dissected on the half-carcass: Caput longum tricipitis brachii (CloTB), Gluteobiceps (Gb), Semitendinosus (St), Semimembranosus (Sm) and Longissimus dorsi (LD). The results showed that from 6 to 10 months of age the meat lipid content decreases and protein content increases for both diets. The lipid content increases slowly with both diets from 10 to 14 months. In the last experimental period (from 14 to 18 months) an increase in the percentage of lipids with diet H and a decrease with diet L was observed. At all slaughtering ages the meat from the animals fed on diet H had a higher energy content. The different energy content of the two diets did not significantly influence the composition of triglycerides only formed by SFA and triglycerides with a higher degree of unsaturation. The triglycerides with an unsaturated fatty acid in position sn 2 did not show the same behaviour in relation to age and diet. The energy content of the feed did influence the unsaturated fatty acid composition: MUFA increased with an increased energy level of the diet, while PUFA increased with a reduction in the energy level of the diet. The muscle LD showed a significantly higher (P < 0.05) content of SFA and lower (P < 0.05) of MUFA and PUFA than the other muscles. On the basis of our results, the better TAG’s composition is found in the meat of animals fed on diet H and slaughtered at 4 months of age. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: River buffalo; Meat; Triglyceride composition 1. Introduction Buffaloes are traditionally reared in Italy for their milk, the economic value of which is closely connected with the typical ‘‘buffalo mozzarella cheese’’ produced from it. Buffalo milk fetches a higher price than cows’ milk due both to its composition (5% protein and an average 8% fat) and the strong demand for mozzarella. Buffalorearingtodaymainlytakesplaceinthesouthern part of Italy and the greatest concentration of buffaloes (around 150,000) is found in the provinces of Caserta and Salerno.Therehasbeen,however,anexpansionofbuffalo farming towards northern Italy (around 6000) due to the milkquotasimposedbytheEuropeanUnion(EU).These regulations have caused some breeders to replace dairy cattle, mainly Italian Friesians, with buffalo. The spread of buffalo farming has made calves more available, and hence a potential source for the meat market. Although some studies comparing buffalo meat and beef have shown that the nutritional and organoleptic 0309-1740/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0309-1740(03)00060-3 Meat Science 65 (2003) 1379–1389 www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-081-2539005; fax: +39-081- 7762886. E-mail address: zullo@unina.it (A. Zullo).