Steak Location Within the Semitendinosus Muscle Impacts Metmyoglobin Accumulation on Steaks During Retail Display

Beef color is a major attribute consumers utilize to make purchasing decisions. It is estimated poor color shelf-life of beef steaks costs the meat industry more than $1 billion annually. Shelf-life color is influenced by a balance of two biochemical processes within steaks: metmyoglobin reducing ability and oxygen consumption. Steaks that exhibit a greater metmyoglobin reducing and a reduced oxygen consumption are typically characterized as more color stable. Characteristics of the muscle fiber or muscle cell are what determine the properties of a steak. Commonly, muscles with more oxidative fibers have an elevated oxygen consumption and reduced metmyoglobin reducing ability. The Semitendinosus muscle or eye of round possesses a divergent muscle fiber isoform distribution based on the location steaks are fabricated. The objective of this study was to examine effects of steak location on muscle fiber type distribution and metmyoglobin accumulation of Semitendinosus steaks

Freezing Improves Instrumental Tenderness of Strip Steaks Purchased at Retail Grocery Stores

When meat is frozen cell membranes can be damaged, which may lead to lower water holding capacity and higher cooking losses. Several researchers have indicated that freezing Longissimus muscle (strip loin) steaks may lower Warner-Bratzler shear force, a measurement to objectively measure beef tenderness, compared with steaks not previously frozen. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of freezing on beef tenderness and cooking characteristics of strip steaks purchased from grocery store outlets

Premium Choice Steaks Purchased from Grocery Outlets Are Generally More Tender Throughout the Year than Lower Quality Grade Steaks

Consumers typically have the opportunity to select steaks from a variety of marketing categories that relate to quality, price, and expected tenderness. Research on quantifying characteristics of strip steaks from different marketing programs available in self-serve retail display cases and establishing benchmark data for strip steak comparisons for future years is needed. The purpose of this study was to determine mechanical tenderness as well as physical and cooking characteristics of strip steaks purchased from self-serve display cases in grocery store outlets throughout the year

Gaze Stabilization During Locomotion Requires Full Body Coordination

Maintaining gaze stabilization during locomotion places substantial demands on multiple sensorimotor subsystems for precise coordination. Gaze stabilization during locomotion requires eye-head-trunk coordination (Bloomberg, et al., 1997) as well as the regulation of energy flow or shock-wave transmission through the body at high impact phases with the support surface (McDonald, et al., 1997). Allowing these excessive transmissions of energy to reach the head may compromise gaze stability. Impairments in these mechanisms may lead to the oscillopsia and decreased dynamic visual acuity seen in crewmembers returning from short and long duration spaceflight, as well as in patients with vestibular disorders (Hillman, et al., 1999). Thus, we hypothesize that stabilized gaze during locomotion results from full-body coordination of the eye-head-trunk system combined with the lower limb apparatus. The goal of this study was to determine how multiple, interdependent full- body sensorimotor subsystems aiding gaze stabilization during locomotion are functionally coordinated, and how they adaptively respond to spaceffight

Coarse Marbled Beef is Juicier and More Flavorful Than Fine or Medium Marbled Beef

Beef palatability and eating experience is driven primarily by U.S. Department of Agriculture quality grade and marbling levels. Beef USDA quality grade consists of both marbling levels and maturity. Conventionally, marbling texture has not been a consideration of quality grades. Currently, only one study has assessed the effects of marbling texture on beef palatability. Despite this, preferences for fine or medium marbling exist with both packers and retailers, as approximately 75% of branded beef programs under the supervision of USDA-AMS require fine or medium textured marbling, which equates to losses of premiums for packers and producers (USDA, 2016). The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of marbling texture on trained sensory panel ratings of beef strip loin steaks of varying USDA quality grades and marbling textures

Marbling Texture Does Not Affect Consumer Preference of Beef Strip Loin Steaks

In the beef industry, U.S. Department of Agriculture quality grades and marbling levels have long been associated with beef palatability and eating experience. Marbling score and maturity are the two major components of USDA quality grade. Traditionally, marbling texture has not been considered a factor of marbling score; however, there are often discernments at both the packer and retail level, as more than 75% of branded beef programs supervised by USDA-AMS have a specification of fine or medium textured marbling (USDA, 2015). Additionally, in some cases, fine and medium textured steaks are graded higher than their coarse counterparts, which results in a loss of possible premiums for producers and packers. There is very little research evaluating marbling texture and its effect on palatability and eating experience

Length of Aging has Greater Effect than Lactic Acid Treatment on Color Stability of Beef Chuck Muscles

Lactic acid spray washes are widely used as an antimicrobial intervention in the beef industry. Sprays are typically applied to the exterior of carcasses and subprimal cuts to reduce or eliminate potential pathogenic bacteria. While the efficacy of these washes has been proven, other questions remain about their effect on color attributes of meat when applied to subprimal cuts. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a lactic acid subprimal wash on the color stability of beef chuck rolls

Freezing Strip Loin and Top Round Steaks Improves Warner-Bratzler Shear Force

Postmortem aging of steaks is a common practice used to improve tenderness of beef steaks. The impact of proteolysis and improvement in tenderness due to aging varies among muscles. When designing research protocols, samples for Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) are often frozen for later analysis because of convenience and time limitations. Freezing stops postmortem aging and allows for storage until meat can be cooked for WBSF and/or sensory analysis. However freezing meat may cause damage to cell membranes resulting in lower Warner-Bratzler shear force (improved mechanical tenderness), lower water holding capacity, and greater moisture loss during cooking. Several researchers have indicated that freezing strip loin (Longissimus muscle) steaks may lower Warner-Bratzler shear force (improve tenderness) compared with those not previously frozen and sheared fresh. However, these results have been inconclusive for steaks from other muscles. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of postmortem aging time and freezing on Warner-Bratzler shear force of six muscles from the beef hindquarter

Palatability of Ground Beef Increases When Brand Is Disclosed in Consumer Testing

Of the beef products on the market, ground beef is one of the least expensive and most universal. Ground beef represents the largest volume of protein served in the foodservice industry, at 64%, and is the most popular beef item for consumers when preparing meals in their home (NCBA, 2012). To date, little research has evaluated ground beef palatability despite representing a large sector of the beef market. All ground beef is not the same to consumers. Ground beef from branded beef programs, higher lean points, and primal-specific blends are traditionally sold at retail for higher prices. Branding is used to indicate an increased quality level associated with the product, and encourages consumers to pay a premium in order to receive a superior product (Grunert et al., 2004). Certain branding strategies can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions even if they have not previously tasted the product (Levin and Gaeth, 1988). There is no conclusive evidence of how ground beef palatability changes with fat levels, although some studies have indicated products with higher fat levels are perceived to be more juicy (Myers et al., 2012). It is common for meat product studies to evaluate palatability differences in products through blind testing; however, consumers do not purchase and consume meat without being exposed to information about the product. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of brand and product identification on consumer palatability ratings of ground beef patties

Pressed Juice Percentage Can Accurately Sort Beef into Categories of Predicted Juiciness

There are three main factors that contribute to meat palatability: tenderness, juiciness, and flavor (Bratzler, 1971). These three individual factors all play a role in the overall palatability perceived by a consumer. If a product fails for juiciness, there is a greater chance that it will fail in overall acceptability (Emerson et. al, 2013). In the past, research has established a method of segregating steaks based on tenderness acceptability. Researchers have been able to institute thresholds to be able to accurately explain at what shear force a steak will be rated tender by consumers. Similar methods have not been evaluated for juiciness until very recently when Woolley (2014) developed a method to objectively quantify beef juiciness. The method that was created included calculating the percentage of moisture loss from each sample after being compressed. From this work, thresholds for juiciness acceptability were established using loigistic regression; however, additional research is needed to verify these established thresholds. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of previously established threshold values by testing consumer juiciness ratings for beef steaks in relation to objective juiciness measures