Physical Characteristics of Camel Muscle Compared with Three Breeds of Cattle

The experiment was conducted to examine the physical characteristics of Camel muscle compared with (Gudali, Keteku and White Fulani) cattle. Semimenbranosus muscles used were collected immediately after slaughter, trimmed off all surface fat, connective tissue and chilled for 24hours at 4°c. The meats used were allowed to thaw at room temperature and cut into fifteen chops/ kg with an average weight of 110g. The cooked weight, cooking loss, warner bratzler shear value, water holding capacity, cold shortening and thermal shortening were determined on fresh muscle of each animals. The results of the study indicated that keteku breed had the highest (p<0.05) water holding capacity than camel, White Fulani and Gudali muscle. The cold shortening percentage for white Fulani was significantly lower (P<0.05) than camel, Gudali and Keteku. Thermal shortening percentage was scored highest (P<0.05) in camel, than the three breeds of cattle used for this study. However, the significantly (p<0.05) lowest mean values of shear force and cooking loss were observed in keteku, while camel muscle had the significantly (p<0.05) highest while White Fulani and Gudali had similar values (P>0.05)for both traits respectively.