[Effects of leanness and emaciation of cattle on quantitative characteristics of meat]

The studies were carried out on 60 cows of the lowland black-and-white breed at about 4 years of age, which were divided into 4 groups according to the degree of fatness: well-fed, lean, moderately and completely emaciated. The basic composition, water holding capacity, miofibrillar protein, collagen, amino acid composition of proteins, biological value of muscle proteins, DNA level, pH, physical parameters of muscle fibres and sensory properties of meat were determined. It was found that: a) with the decrease of the fatness degree changes in the basic composition of muscle tissue follow; the most significant is the decrease in the content of total protein, particularly that of miofibrillar protein, b) the water to protein ratio over 4 to 1 is a good index for determination of emaciation, c) the biological value of protein is the same regardless the degree of fatness, d) distinct organoleptic changes of meat occur only in extreme cases of emaciation.