Relationships between objective evaluation value of beef carcass cross section and eating quality

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between objective evaluation values and eating quality for beef. Objective evaluation values consisted of three traits (monounsaturated fatty acid : MUFA, marbling percent : MP, coarseness index of marbling : CIM), and eating quality was described by four traits (flavor, tenderness, juiciness, overall liking). High-resolution digital images of 6th-7th ribs of carcasses were taken for crossbred cattle (n=10). Fat tissues were sampled from the M. longissimus dorsi (RIB) and M. trapezius (TRAP) of each carcass, and the fatty acid composition was analyzed using gas chromatography. Samples of RIB and TRAP from 10 carcasses were supplied to 280 general consumer panels for evaluation of eating quality. Paired comparison tests of preference were carried out using the following 7 sets of meat samples ; two RIB MUFA comparison sets (I, II), two RIB MP comparison sets (III, IV), one RIB CIM comparison set (V), one TRAP MUFA comparison set (VI : same animal of set I), TRAP MP comparison set (VII : same animal of set III). The panel had to select the better of two samples for each eating quality trait and evaluate the degree of difference between samples into 4 levels (score 1 : very little, 2 : a little, 3 : considerable, 4 : exceedingly). The total score of these evaluation values for each sample from panel was treated as the score of the sample. As a result, there was no relationship between CIM and eating quality traits. Lower MUFA samples were associated with flavor and juiciness, and higher MP samples were characterized by poor flavor, better tenderness and juiciness (P<0.05).