Extending Aging of Beef Longissimus Lumborum From 21 to 84 Days Postmortem Influences Consumer Eating Quality

Abstract

Our objective was to determine the effect of extending postmortem aging from 21 to 84 days on consumer eating quality of beef longissimus lumborum. Strip loins were collected from 108 carcasses. The longissimus lumborum muscle was isolated from strip loins and assigned to one of ten postmortem aging periods from 21 to 84 days (7-day increments) and balanced within four anatomical positions within the muscle. Consumer evaluations for tenderness, juiciness, flavor, and overall liking were conducted using untrained consumer sensory panels consisting of 1080 individual consumers, in accordance with the Meat Standards Australia protocols. These scores were then used to calculate an overall eating quality (MQ4) score. Postmortem aging had no effect (P > 0.05) on tenderness, but juiciness, flavor liking, overall liking, and MQ4 declined (P < 0.05) as aging period increased. Samples aged 21 to 42 days were most preferred having greater (P < 0.05) overall liking and greater (P < 0.05) MQ4 scores than samples aged 70 to 84 days postmortem. These results suggest that longissimus lumborum samples should not be wet-aged longer than 63 days to prevent potential negative eating experiences for consumers; however, altering storage conditions, specifically reducing temperature, could potentially allow for longer chilled storage without such negative effects on flavor and overall liking.

Effect of Aging Time on Meat Quality of Longissimus Dorsi from Yunling Cattle: A New Hybrid Beef Cattle

“…The carcasses were divided into left and right halves along the middle of the spine with a chainsaw and dressed, thereby obtaining the half carcasses. The half carcasses were cut into two quarter carcasses between the twelfth and thirteenth ribs at the waist, thereby obtaining the quarter carcasses [ 17 , 18 ]. The carcass weights were measured after the quarter carcasses were stored at 4 °C for 24 h. The slaughter rate was calculated using the following formula: dressing percentage (%) = carcass weight/BW × 100.…”

Consumer Preferences and Acceptance of Meat Products

“…The final two research articles focusing on postmortem factors that influence consumer eating quality dealt with extended postmortem aging of beef [5] and modified atmosphere packaging of pork [6]. Garmyn et al [5] investigated the effect of extending the postmortem aging of beef strip loins from 21 to 84 days.…”

“…The final two research articles focusing on postmortem factors that influence consumer eating quality dealt with extended postmortem aging of beef [5] and modified atmosphere packaging of pork [6]. Garmyn et al [5] investigated the effect of extending the postmortem aging of beef strip loins from 21 to 84 days. Based on their results, samples should not be wet-aged longer than 63 days to prevent negative eating experiences for consumers; however, storage conditions (i.e., temperature) could potentially be adjusted to accommodate longer chilled storage without compromising flavor and overall palatability to the same extent [5].…”

“…Garmyn et al [5] investigated the effect of extending the postmortem aging of beef strip loins from 21 to 84 days. Based on their results, samples should not be wet-aged longer than 63 days to prevent negative eating experiences for consumers; however, storage conditions (i.e., temperature) could potentially be adjusted to accommodate longer chilled storage without compromising flavor and overall palatability to the same extent [5]. Peng et al [6] investigated the effects of high oxygen modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) of pork loins compared to vacuum packaging on eating quality and color following presentation in simulated retail display conditions.…”

“…Five of the original research articles focused on the influence of postmortem factors, such an enhancement [ 2 , 3 ] or incorporation of non-meat ingredients [ 4 ], postmortem aging [ 5 ], and packaging [ 6 ] on consumer eating quality. Lees et al [ 2 ] assessed the impact of kiwifruit extract (actinidin) on consumer sensory outcomes for beef strip loin and outside flat.…”