Study of The Chemical Composition and Heavy Metals Levels Determination in The Muscles of Local Cows in Shirqat City

The researchers looked at the heavy metals (copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc) and the amounts of moisture, protein, fat, and ash in the muscles (femoral muscle, liver, dorsal muscle, and kidney) of male and female cows bought at Shirqat city markets between February 10, 2023, and March 2, 2023. The findings indicated that the liver of male cows exhibited the highest moisture content at 74.83%, whereas the kidneys of male cows displayed the lowest moisture content at 70.12%. The femoral muscle in both male and female cows had the highest protein levels, recorded at 19.83% and 19.87%, respectively, while the liver of male and female cows showed lower protein levels at 12.92% and 12.04%, respectively. The fat percentage reached its peak at 11.84% in the dorsal muscle of male cows, whereas the lowest fat percentage was recorded at 4.82% in the liver of male cows. The ash levels exhibited no significant differences, with the highest value (1.10%) observed in the female femoral muscle. There was also a significant (p<0.05) effect on the heavy metal levels in the femoral muscle, liver, dorsal muscle, and kidney of both male and female cows when the three study factors interacted with each other. The study indicates a significant effect of sex and muscle location on copper levels, with the highest copper concentration (2.72 ppm) found in the livers of male cows. On the other hand, sex did not have a big effect on the low levels of lead found in all samples, and there were also no significant differences in the amounts of any element found in the meat muscles across all samples. Zinc levels were elevated in all meat samples, with the maximum concentration of 112.55 ppm found in the liver of female cows, above the allowed limit of 50 ppm.