Colour, composition and quality of M. longissimus dorsi and M. extensor carpi radialis of steers housed on straw or concrete slats or accommodated outdoors on wood-chips

Forty-five Charolais crossbred steers were offered a common diet and accommodated either outside on wood-chips (OWP, 18 m2/head) or in a naturally-ventilated building in slatted-floor pens (SLA, 2.5 m2/500 kg bodyweight) or in straw-bedded pens (STR, 4 m2/head) for 132 days. Carcass weight averaged 351, 362, and 372 (sed 6.63) kg (P < 0.05), for SLA, STR and OWP, respectively. Accommodation system did not affect the colour, drip loss, shear force or composition of Musculus longissimus dorsi (LD) or Musculus extensor carpi radialis (ECR) muscles or the sensory characteristics of LD. The ultimate pH of ECR was highest (P < 0.05) for OWP steers, while their LD was darker at 2 days post-mortem than LD from STR steers. It is concluded that accommodating cattle on OWP had a minor transient effect on beef colour and no impact on beef composition or eating quality.