Short communication Influence of age and method of carcass suspension on meat quality attributes of pure bred Ankole bulls K. Kamatara a , D. Mpairwe a,n , M. Christensen b , C.E. Eskildsen c , D. Mutetikka a , J. Muyonga d , D. Mushi e , S. Omagor a , Z. Nantongo a , J. Madsen f a Department of Agricultural Production, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda b Carometec A/S, Denmark c Department of Food Science, Faculty Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark d Department of Food Technology and Human Nutrition, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda e Department of Animal Science and Production, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania f Department of Large Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark article info Article history: Received 2 April 2014 Received in revised form 8 September 2014 Accepted 9 September 2014 Keywords: Ankole cattle Collagen characteristics Pelvic suspension Shear force abstract This study investigated the effect of age at slaughter, pre-rigour carcass suspension and their interaction on meat quality of longissimus dorsi from Ankole bulls. Ankole bulls (45) were evenly distributed into three age groups (2, 3 or 5 years). Immediately after slaughter, carcasses were weighed, halved and sides were either suspended in the Achilles tendon or pelvic bone until 48 h postmortem. Carcass weights, grades and fat scores increased (P o0.001) with increasing age. Pelvic suspended sides had lower (P o0.001) chilling and cooking loss than Achilles-suspended sides across all age groups. Collagen solubility decreased (P o0.001), while shear force increased (P o0.001) with increasing age. Pelvic suspension decreased shear force across all age groups and the decrease was more pronounced in 5 year old bulls. The present study indicates that pelvic suspension is beneficial in eliminating the age-induced increase in toughness in longissimus thoracis from Ankole bulls. & 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In Uganda farmers tend to bring their animals for slaughter solely when they are in need of money. Conse- quently a large number of animals are delivered for slaughter without any prior finishing which results in large variations in animal body condition and carcass weights. Furthermore, due to random bringing of cattle, animals of different ages and sex which collectively results in variations in meat quality especially tenderness. A number of post-mortem interventions have been developed for beef producers and processors to improve beef quality of cattle from less intensive production systems for example electrical stimula- tion (Ferguson et al., 2001), ageing (Monsón et al., 2004) and altered carcass suspension (Ahnström et al., 2009; 2011; 2012). However, in Uganda interventions such as electrical stimulation or postmortem storage are not widely utilized due to inconsistent power supply, high electricity tariffs and lack of enough cold room space. Therefore, beef producers and processors may improve beef tenderness by altered carcass suspension using the pelvic method. Sørheim et al. (2001) working with Norwegian Red bulls and their Hereford crosses reported that pelvic carcass Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/livsci Livestock Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.09.018 1871-1413/& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. n Correspondence to: Department of Agricultural Production, School of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. Tel.: þ256 772 439 372. E-mail addresses: dmpairwe@caes.mak.ac.ug, d_mpairwe@yahoo.co.uk (D. Mpairwe). Livestock Science 169 (2014) 175–179