Producing tender and flavoursome beef with enhanced nutritional characteristics

Abstract

The perception of healthiness and/or safety, tenderness, juiciness and aroma or flavour are important quality criteria that influence the decision of a consumer to purchase beef. Beef production systems represent the combined and interacting effects of genotype, gender, age at slaughter and nutrition before slaughter. The present paper highlights recent information on how beef production systems can be modified to enhance the tenderness, flavour and healthiness of beef. Carcass management post-slaughter has a larger effect on meat tenderness than gender, genotype or feeding systems. Optimum ‘pasture to plate’ management systems are being established to ensure beef tenderness. The chemistry underlying beef flavour is complex, with in excess of 140 components identified in cooked beef volatiles. Flavour of beef is influenced by cattle diet, but assessment of flavour by a taste panel is subject to the previous experiences and preferences of the panellists. Modern lean beef can have an intramuscular fat concentration of 25–50 g/kg and can be considered a low-fat food. As the quantity of grass in the diet of cattle is increased, there is a decrease in saturated fatty acid concentration, and an increase in the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and conjugated linoleic acid concentrations. It is concluded that there is opportunity to exploit the diet of cattle to produce tender flavoursome beef that has an increased conjugated linoleic acid concentration, a lower fat concentration and a fatty acid profile more compatible with current human dietary recommendations.

The effect of grazing on the fatty acid profile of longissimus thoracis muscle in Galician Blond calves

“…Other studies showed that effects of feeding on SFA content depended on maturity. French et al (2000) and Moloney et al (2001) found higher concentration of SFA in meat from 18-monthold bulls fed on concentrates than fed on grass, whereas Enser et al (1998) found the opposite in 12-month-old steers.…”

Effect of level of eicosapentaenoic acid on the transcriptional regulation of Δ-9 desaturase using a novel in vitro bovine intramuscular adipocyte cell culture model

“…The strategic supplementation of cattle diets can generate beef with increased conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and n-3 -E-mail: Sinead.Waters@teagasc.ie polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations, a lower quantity of fat and a fatty acid profile more compatible with current human dietary recommendations (Moloney et al, 2001). More recently, however, it has been shown that the simultaneous accretion of tissue concentrations of n-3 PUFA and CLA appears to be hampered by the apparent negative effects of n-3 PUFA on tissue CLA synthesis (Waters et al, 2009).…”

Lipidic characterization of Santa Inês lamb shoulder

“…The cholesterol content was determined by the direct saponification method, using 2% of KOH in 50 mL of absolute ethanol, with adaptations (MAZALLI; SALDANHA; BRAGAGNOLO, 2003). Next, the reading was done in a HPLC, Considering that lamb meat has commercial value, both in the national and international market, due to economic and social characteristics, besides the lack of scientific information about its lipidic composition, the objective of the present study was to determine total lipids, cholesterol, and fatty acids composition of the edible portion of Santa Inês lamb shoulder from 12 castrated and 12 non-castrated animals, which were slaughtered at different ages (84, 168, 210, 252 days) and submitted to semi-intensive regime.…”