Quality comparisons were made on mature green and firm red tomato fruits of three cultivars harvested at ,different times throughout the season. Fruits were harvested at the mature green stage and ripened at 20°C in humidified air for the room ripened treatment. Quality measurements included reduced ascorbic acid content, Iocular material content, pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids content, soluble solidsacidity ratio and moisture content. Field ripened fruits had greater ascorbic acid contents relative to room ripened fruits, but variations occurred with harvest time. Field ripened fruits were judged as better in overall quality and flavor relative to room ripened fruits. Correlations were made between quality measurements and sensory evaluations.

The dose-dependent effects of porcine somatotropin (pST) on cellular aspects of skeletal muscle growth, muscle composition and measures of pork quality were investigated in growing barrows and gilts. Eighty crossbred pigs weighing 46 kg were assigned randomly to receive daily subcutaneous injections of 0, 30, 60, 120 or 200 micrograms pST/kg BW until they weighed 100 kg. Semitendinosus muscle weights were increased with pST dose (linear, P less than .001) by 21%. Percentage of type I and type II muscle fibers was not changed with pST, but cross-sectional area of type I and type II fibers was increased in parallel with muscle weight. Percentage of moisture increased (P less than .01) and percentage of lipid decreased (P less than .01) as pST dose increased. The pH of the longissimus 24 h postmortem increased (P less than .01) .1 to .2 units with increasing pST dose, but subjective evaluation for color, firmness and wateriness of the longissimus indicated no discernible treatment effect. Gardner color difference meter "Rd" and "A" values decreased (P less than .01) with a pST dose of 60 micrograms/kg or more, signifying a slightly darker and less red color, respectively, of the longissimus muscle. Weight loss of loin chops 2.54 cm thick cooked to 71 degrees C (20.3% to 23.7%) and shear force of cores 1.27 cm in diameter (2.89 to 3.76 kg) were not related to pST treatment or dose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cooking loss and sensory attribute changes were quantified for increases in carcass weight, marbling score and intramuscular fat in rib roasts from 74 small framed Angus and 71 Holstein steers slaughtered over a wide weight range. Cooking losses increased (P < 0.005) 2.6 percentage units for each 100 kg increase in carcass weight. Marbling score explained less than 1.2% of the variation in tenderness and was positively related (P < 0.01) to flavor of roasts from Angus but not Holsteins. Carcass weight, marbling score and intramuscular fat were more related to pan juice and total losses and explained little of the variation in sensory attributes. Therefore, alternatives to traditional indicators are needed to explain variation in sensory attributes of beef from young cattle.

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