Recent advances in meat quality of north American bison - A review

Interest in bison as a protein source has increased, underscoring the need to understand factors that influence meat quality and nutritional value. Over the past three decades, research has demonstrated that both pre- and post-harvest factors can impact carcass traits, meat quality attributes, and nutrient composition of bison. Early work commonly compared beef with bison, but the biological and physiological differences between these species highlight the importance of species-specific evaluations rather than extrapolations from cattle research. Among pre-harvest factors, finishing systems have been studied most extensively, establishing the effects of grass- and grain-finishing on carcass outcomes and meat quality attributes, whereas the effects of animal sex and physiological maturity remain less well characterized. Bison meat has been shown to be a nutrient-dense source of macro- and micronutrients; however, nuances between different management systems may support differentiated marketing to promote quality or health-related attributes specific to a target market. Post-harvest research has focused primarily on carcass chilling strategies, packaging, and storage methods, with particular emphasis on tenderness development, color stability, and shelf life. Modern technologies and further processing applications have been explored only to a limited extent in bison products. This review aims to synthesize the recent advances in bison meat quality and nutritional composition research, identify critical pre- and post-harvest drivers of product quality, and highlight key gaps and future research needs for this keystone species.