Korean Consumers’ Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Domestic versus U.S. and Australian Beef with Alternative Attributes

In 2007, consumer focus groups and online surveys using choice sets were conducted to examine South Korean’s perceptions of and willingness-to-pay for Australian, U.S. and domestic beef. Consumers indicated higher positive perceptions of Australian beef than of U.S. beef, particularly in the area of environmentally friendly, cleanliness, standards and credibility; and thus Korean consumers discount Australian beef less than U.S. beef relative to domestic beef. The U.S. industry could improve perceptions and their country-image by providing Korean consumers with promotional material pointing out that U.S. beef production systems are comparable to competitors’ in terms of “environmental-friendliness” and other quality attributes.Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Flavor Relationships Among Muscles of the Beef Chuck and Round

Flavor relationships among muscles and causes of liver-like off-flavor of six muscles from each of 30 beef carcasses were evaluated by a trained sensory panel. The infraspinatus (flat iron) was lowest in sour, metallic, and oxidized flavors and highest in fatty flavor. The vastus lateralis (knuckle side) had the most intense off-flavor and was among the highest for sour and oxidized. Heme iron concentration and pH were lowly related to off-flavor. Of 18 muscles from three carcasses, 16 were high in liver-like off-flavor. These data suggest liver-like off-flavor is related to something that impacts the entire animal

Flavor Relationships Among Muscles of the Beef Chuck and Round

Flavor relationships among muscles and causes of liver-like off-flavor of six muscles from each of 30 beef carcasses were evaluated by a trained sensory panel. The infraspinatus (flat iron) was lowest in sour, metallic, and oxidized flavors and highest in fatty flavor. The vastus lateralis (knuckle side) had the most intense off-flavor and was among the highest for sour and oxidized. Heme iron concentration and pH were lowly related to off-flavor. Of 18 muscles from three carcasses, 16 were high in liver-like off-flavor. These data suggest liver-like off-flavor is related to something that impacts the entire animal

Agenator: An open source computer-controlled dry aging system for beef

Dry aging of beef is a process where beef is exposed to a controlled environment with the ultimate goal of drying the beef to improve its quality and value. Comprehensive investigations into the effects of various environmental conditions on dry aging are crucial for understanding and optimizing the process, but the lack of affordable equipment focused on data collection makes it difficult to do so. The Agenator was thus developed as an open source system with a suite of features for investigating dry aging such as: measuring and recording relative humidity, temperature, mass, air velocity, and fan rotational speed; precise control within 1% for relative humidity and 50 rpm for fan rotational speed; robust signal integrity preservation and data recovery features; modular design for easy addition and removal of individual chamber units; and non-permanent fixtures to allow easy adaptation of the system for other applications such as investigating dehydration of food products. The open source system comes with user-friendly computer software for interfacing with the system and creating sophisticated environmental control programs. The Agenator is available to the public at https://osf.io/87nck/

Relationships Among Calcium-Dependent Protease, Cathepsins B and H, Meat Tenderness and the Response of Muscle to Aging

This study was conducted to compare the relative importance of Ca-dependent protease (CDP) and cathepsins B and H to meat tenderness and changes in tenderness in response to postmortem cooler aging. Charolais bulls (n = 8) and steers (n = 7) were slaughtered at 15 mo of age, and total activities of CDP-I (a protease with neutral pH optimum that requires micromolar amounts of Ca for activity) and cathepsins B and H (lysosomal proteases with acidic pH optima) were determined within 1 h. Shear-force values were obtained after 1, 3, 6, 9 and 14 d of aging. Data were pooled when analysis of variance revealed no differences between bulls and steers. Initial shear force was correlated (r = -.71, P \u3c .l0, n = 7) to CDP-I activity (only seven animals sampled for CDP-I), and the overall change in shear force (d 1 to d 14) was correlated to cathepsin B (r = .59, P \u3c .05, n = 15). Most of the aging response occurred between d 3 and d 6 (41.6%), and changes in shear force during this period were related to total activities of cathepsins B and H (r = .44, .64, respectively, P \u3c .05). Collectively, cathepsins B and H accounted for 35 and 58% of the variation in shear force change between d 1 to d 14 and d 3 to d 6, respectively. These data suggest that CDP-I helps to establish initial (d 1) meat tenderness but that cathepsins B and H are responsible for the tenderization that occurs during aging. By manipulating live animal growth and postmortem handling, it might be possible to control meat tenderness through the actions of these enzyme systems

Mapping Tenderness of the \u3ci\u3eSerratus Ventralis\u3c/i\u3e

Serratus ventralis muscles from eight USDA Choice and eight Select carcasses were obtained. Samples were enhanced with a marination or left as controls, then blade tenderized once as whole muscles and cut into steaks. Enhanced steaks were then blade tenderized individually. Odd-numbered steaks were cooked, cored, and sheared for Warner-Bratzler (WBS) shear force determination. Tenderness was found to vary sporadically throughout the muscle with the posterior end being the most tender, regardless of grade. Enhanced samples produced lower WBS values than controls. The serratus ventralis does respond to enhancement techniques, and steaks could especially be fabricated from the posterior end

Fragmentation Index of Raw Muscle as a Tenderness Predictor of Steaks from US Good and US Standard Steer and Bullock Carcasses

Thirty steer (10 US Good, 20 US Standard) and 10 bullock carcasses (one US Good, nine US Standard) were selected from two commercial meat packing firms and aged for 10 to 14 days in a 2 C cooler. Each carcass was assigned scores for the various USDA quality and yield grade factors during a 48- to 120-hr post-mortem selection period. Steaks containing the longissimus muscle were obtained from the anterior end of the short loin and cooked to 70 C. They were then measured for tenderness with the Warner-Bratzler shear and evaluated by a trained eight-member sensory panel

The Influence of Cooking Rate and Holding Time on Beef Flavor

Seven muscles from 10 beef carcasses were cooked quickly or slowly and held 0 or 1 hour to explore the influence of cooking rate and holding time on beef flavor. Off-flavor intensity was lowest when beef was cooked slowly (on a 300°F grill instead of a 480°F grill) and when it was held for 1 hour prior to sensory evaluation. The infraspinatus (flat iron) had the least intense off-flavor and the vastus intermedius (knuckle bottom) had the most intense off-flavor. Slow cooking or holding for 1 hour prior to consumption reduced the intensity of off-flavor in value cuts

Use of Sodium Citrate to Enhance Tenderness and Palatability of Pre-Rigor Beef Muscles

The objective of this project was to evaluate the response in tenderness and consumer acceptability of three muscles from the chuck that were pumped pre-rigor with different concentrations of sodium citrate solutions to inhibit glycolysis, while maintaining skeletal restraint for 24 hours. Controls were left on carcass, while the other three treatments had the thoracic limb removed and muscles pumped post-mortem to 10% of their weight with solutions of 0 mM, 200 mM or 400 mM sodium citrate. Although tenderness ratings were not always statistically different (comparing controls vs. 400 mM solution), there was a clear trend showing higher concentrations of sodium citrate make beef more tender and acceptable to consumers

Adding Value to Low-Quality Beef Muscles through Glycolytic Inhibition in Pre-rigor Muscle

Pre-rigor Semimembranosus, Triceps brachii and Supraspinatus muscles were removed from 10 steers to determine effects of several glycolysis-inhibiting compounds on pH, tenderness and color. Muscles were injected and tumbled with 10% of sodium citrate, sodium fluoride, sodium acetate, or calcium chloride. Sodium citrate and sodium fluoride increased pH values in Semimembranosus, Triceps brachii and Supraspinatus. Tenderness improved in Triceps brachii and Supraspinatus with calcium chloride, sodium fluoride and sodium citrate when compared with controls. Color values were not different among treatments. Sodium citrate and sodium fluoride were successful in improving beef tenderness by maintaining a high pH in pre-rigor muscles