Buffalo meat
Buffalo meat, also known as buffalo beef, is the meat of the water buffalo, a large bovid, raised for its milk and meat in many countries including India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Bulgaria, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Australia and Egypt.
This article is about the meat of the water buffalo. For meat from the animal known as buffalo in North America, see Bison. For meat from cattle, see Beef.Buffalo meat is known by various names in different countries. In some places it is known as red beef, or buff in India[1] and Nepal; in other countries, it is known as carabeef, a portmanteau of "carabao" and "beef", originally coined in Philippine English in the 1970s to distinguish the meat of water buffaloes.[2][3] Meat taken from a buffalo younger than 20 months is known as padwa in India, pado in Nepal and bansgosh in Pakistan. Buffalo calves are often referred to as buffalo broilers and brought up exclusively on milk for the purpose of being slaughtered young for meat.[4][5]
Social significance[edit]
Due to the religious importance of cows and restrictions on beef in India and Nepal, there is a need to differentiate buffalo meat from beef. In countries like India, for religious reasons, a considerable part of the population does not eat beef (meat of cattle). In a large number of the Indian states and in Nepal, slaughtering cattle is prohibited.
Differences from beef[edit]
Water buffalo are a type of bovid, but their meat is different from beef in many respects. Buffalo meat has a lower fat content, and its fat is milky white, compared to the yellow-white fat of beef. Buffalo meat is darker in color, and buffaloes, because of their larger size, have harder bones than cows. Buffalo meat has a lower muscle pH of 5.6±0.4 whereas beef muscle has a pH of 6.4±0.7. It also has a significantly smaller amount of collagen in its muscles, but the species does not differ significantly in the degree of intramuscular collagen cross-linking.[6]
Indian export[edit]
India is one of the world’s biggest exporters of buffalo meat.[10] According to US Department of Agriculture, India leads over the next highest exporter Brazil. In 2015, India exported more than 2.4 million tonnes of buffalo meat and its allied products. Brazil exported 2 million tonnes and Australia 1.5 million tonnes. These two countries constitute 58.7% of all buffalo meat exports. India has 23.5% of global buffalo meat exports. In fiscal year 2014, the export share of India was 20%.
According to data obtained from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), most of India’s export is to Asian countries, which import more than 80% while African countries import around 15%. Within Asia, Vietnam imports 45% of the buffalo meat exported from India.[11]
Buffalo meat exports from India have been growing at an average of approximately 14% yearly since 2011 and fetched more than $4.8 billion in 2014. Last year was the first time India has earned more from the export of buffen than it did from Basmati rice exports.
Several databases, such as Agricultural Outlook and United Nations Food, show there is increasing trend of meat consumption in India. However, the data also show that the consumption of buffalo meat has been falling over the years. It has come down by (-) 44.5% in 2014 from 2000. This fall in consumption has been taking place because of an increase in the price of buffalo meat and health consciousness.[12] Consumption of chicken went up by 31% in that period, showing that white meat is taking precedence over red meat.[13]
Buffen qeema is a spicy dish, widely eaten in India
The Thai dish Yam tin khwai is a spicy and sour Northern Thai soup made with the hoof of a water buffalo
