Instrumental meat quality characteristics associated with aged m. longissimus thoracis from the four Canadian beef quality grades

Abstract

Canadian beef is quality graded to characterize the potential eating quality of the cooked product. Instrumental meat quality characteristics of 48 m. longissimus thoracis (LT, rib eye) from four Canadian beef grades (Canada A, AA, AAA, and Prime, n = 12) before and after an additional 14-d aging were compared using a split plot design with grade, aging, and their interaction as fixed sources of variation. Mean percentage intramuscular fat was greatest in Canada Prime muscle and least in Canada A and AA muscles (P < 0.0001), whereas mean percentage drip loss was lower in Canada Prime muscle than in muscle from all other grades (P = 0.0348). Canada Prime and AAA muscles were redder and yellower than muscles from other grades even after aging (P < 0.03), which may be associated with increased fat content and indicative of accelerated myoglobin oxidation and increased myoglobin oxygenation. Shear force was not different among the Canada grades, although the differences between Canada AA cooked beef LT and that of Canada Prime and AAA carcasses approached significance (P = 0.0993). Results indicated that Canada quality grades did not differentiate beef on cooked product tenderness, substantiating that muscle compositional characteristics alone define beef grade advantages.

Eating Quality of Beef from Arsi, Borana, and Harar Cattle Breed, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia

“…In the present study the mean values of instrumental tenderness at <3 years was similar to the reported for four Canadian beef cattle which was 30.35N [25]. The instrumental tenderness value of beef from Borana and Harar bulls was lower than shear force values of 37.71N and 42.66N reported for Brazilian cattle [26].…”

Review: Beef-eating quality: a European journey

“…Mateescu et al (2016) reported that WBSF, IMF, hot carcase weight and marbling score predicted eating quality of sirloin better than did the USDA grade. Likewise, the Canadian quality grades, A, AA, AAA did not differentiate beef on cooked tenderness, as measured by shear force (Puente et al, 2016).…”

The most important attributes of beef sensory quality and production variables that can affect it: A review

“…Nevertheless, some studies found that after 14 days of ageing, there was no correlation between crude fat content and Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (Puente et al, 2016;Puente et al, 2019). Discontinuous growth (hay-feed until 15 months of age and then concentrate plus hay until 24 months age) provides more tender meat than continuous growth meat (with concentrate plus hay until 18 months of age), even though the animal were older in the first production system (Costa et al, 2016).…”