INFLUÊNCIA DO TRANSPORTE NO BEM-ESTAR E NA QUALIDADE DA CARNE DE BOVINOS DE CORTE

Abstract

Beef is the main red meat consumed in the country, responsible for providing the main nutrients needed to meet the population's dietary needs. The final quality of this meat is the result of what happened to the animal throughout its production chain, with the maintenance of animal welfare being the main guarantee of ensuring quality meat, when it comes to handling. The quality of animal welfare during transport depends on a set of activities of all those involved in pre-slaughter management. Transport is the main stage of pre-slaughter management and, in adverse conditions, it can cause bruises on the carcasses, increase the animal's stress level and even death. Due to the impact of road transport on the maintenance of animal welfare and, consequently, on the quality of beef, the objective of this work was to carry out a survey of all the factors that trigger changes in animal welfare during the transport of cattle from pre-slaughter cut and its influence on meat quality. Several authors reinforce that the animal welfare of beef cattle is intrinsically related to the final quality of the carcass of these animals, being the responsibility of all those involved in the process of raising, loading, transporting and unloading the maintenance of animal welfare. Animals subjected to stress conditions show metabolic changes that favor the appearance and development of lower quality meat (DFD or PSE). Different aspects of pre-slaughter management must be taken into account to ensure animal welfare and the prevention of injuries to animals, from the selection of viable animals to be transported, care during loading, transport and unloading. Therefore, the adoption of good management practices during the transport of cattle is necessary to reduce risk situations that harm the animals' well-being and cause quantitative and qualitative losses of the meat.