Assessing the variability in camel and beef meat quality: Implications for consumer acceptance

This survey aimed to determine the widest possible range in the physicochemical and color values of cattle and camel's meat sold in Egyptian markets (Tanta and Toukh towns), caused by the interactions of various fundamental contributing factors such as age, breed, nutrition, hygiene, and stress. To achieve the survey purpose, all thirty camel and beef longissimus thoracis muscle (ribeye, between 10th-13th ribs) were randomly collected, irrespective of basic contributing criteria such as age, gender, and ration composition. Compared to beef, camel longissimus showed lower purge loss (3.61% vs. 5.24%) and WBSF (5.87 vs. 6.66), but greater pH (6.42 vs. 6.17) and cooking loss (39.51% vs. 32.63%) (P < 0.05). Compared to beef, camel meat displayed a considerably lower L* average (38.66 vs. 40.56) (P < 0.05). However, the levels of a* (15.41 vs 12.66), b* (7.86 vs 6.83), and chroma (17.34 vs 14.48) were much higher in camel meat than in beef, suggesting that the camel meat was redder but less bright. Lower h˚ (26.87 vs. 28.65) values of camel meat corroborate this result (P > 0.05). Current study results also confirmed that camel meat is consistently associated with greater pH, cooking loss, and darker red meat, and hence is unaffected by fundamental contributing factors. However, purge loss and tenderness are greatly influenced by these parameters' variation and interaction. Therefore, in an attempt to boost consumer acceptance of camel meat as a potential red meat substitute, future manufacturing and marketing promotions may focus on tenderness and purge loss.