Nutritional and meat quality characteristics of seven primal cuts from 9-month-old female veal calves: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND: Beef is a highly nutritious and valuable food. In order to complete its nutritional information, this study determined the chemical and physicochemical parameters and fatty acid, amino acid and mineral contents in seven primal cuts from veal carcasses (shoulder clod (SC), inside round (IR), eye of round (ER), bottom round (BR), heel of round (HR), knuckle (KK) and tenderloin (TL)). RESULTS: The intramuscular fat content was higher and the cholesterol content was lower in TL than in the other cuts. The colour parameters also varied in the different primal cuts. The L* and b* values were highest in ER. Cooking losses were significantly (P < 0.001) affected by the cut of meat ranging from 20.85% in HR to 29.01% in ER. Determination of the shear force values permitted us to establish more tender muscle (TL with shear force 16.45 N cm−2) and less tender muscle (IR with shear force 47.27 N cm−2). The nutritional indices and fatty acid profile indicated that HR is the healthiest cut. All cuts evaluated provide important levels of dietary amino acids, although the contents of both essential and non-essential amino acids were highest in HR. Finally, K, Zn and Fe were affected by the type of veal cut. CONCLUSIONS: All primal cuts of veal provide important nutrients for human diets. The information of this research allows consumers to make healthful food choices, creating diets aimed at trying to correct deficiencies and providing objective data that differentiate between differently priced cuts of veal. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.