Assessment of Quality of the Beef Samples Intended for Feeding of Carnivores in S.V Zoological Park,Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT The study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of randomly collected beef samples (n=50) intended for feeding to the carnivores from S.V Zoological Park, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India and were examined in terms of physical chemistry and microbiological parameters. Results revealed that, the mean values observed for all the physical, chemical parameters like WHC, pH, 2-TBARS, ERV, and FFA were within the normal level, even though some samples had got some slight variation. The slight variation in values in some samples might be due to contamination during handling. As per results obtained in bacterial counts, this study revealed that some of the beef samples were often contaminated with microorganisms. It was found that the microbiological quality of some of the beef samples was inadequate. This might be due to contamination due to either improper handling or delay in transportation of beef from production point to the Zoo.