Honduran and U.S. Consumer Assessment of Beef from Various Production Systems with or Without Marinating

Abstract

Abstract:Our objective was to evaluate the effects of different Honduran cattle production systems, enhancement, and country of origin on palatability of the longissimus muscle aged 21 d postmortem as determined by U.S. and Honduran consumers (n = 240/country). U.S.-sourced strip loins (n = 10/treatment) were selected: USDA Select (SE) and Top (upper 2/3) Choice (TC). Honduran-sourced strip loins (n = 10/treatment) included: 1) dual-purpose bulls, raised on native pasture (HDP), 2) F1 crossbred Brahman bulls finished on a corn-based grain diet for 180 d (HCF), and 3) purebred Brahman bulls finished on a sugarcane-based diet for 180 d (HSC). Ten additional strip loins from each Honduran treatment were selected and enhanced (E; 112% ± 3.5%) with water, salt, and tripolyphosphate, resulting in EHDP, EHCF, and EHSC. Steaks were cooked to 77°C prior to consumer evaluation of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor and overall liking, with classification of each trait as acceptable or unacceptable. Consumers indicated if they were willing to pay 0, 3, 6, or 10 USD/0.45 kg. Consumer data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS as a split plot design, with treatment as the whole plot factor and country and the country × treatment interaction as the subplot factors, including panel as a random effect. The EHCF had greater (P < 0.05) scores for tenderness, juiciness, flavor and overall liking. No differences (P > 0.05) were found between TC and SE when scoring palatability traits, but more (P < 0.05) consumers found TC acceptable for juiciness compared to SE. Honduran consumers ranked all palatability traits greater than U.S consumers and found a greater percentage of samples acceptable for tenderness (P < 0.05). Enhancement of Honduran treatments had a positive effect on palatability traits, as well as the acceptability of those traits. Regardless of the differences in breeds, using high-energy diets and enhancement resulted in greater palatability scores.