For several decades, the sensory properties of beef, particularly tenderness, have been of interest to the meat industry. Variations in sensory properties of beef have been attributed to muscle cut or muscle and postmortem aging. The objective of this study was to examine the sensory properties of five beef muscles, determine the contribution of connective tissue (i.e., collagen) to tenderness, and investigate the response of various muscles to postmortem aging

Crouse, John D.

Seideman, Steven C.

English

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research 
Center 
U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural 
Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska 
1985 
Variation in Sensory Properties of Meat as Affected by Sex 
Condition, Muscle, and Postmortem Aging 
Steven C. Seideman 
U.S. Meat Animal Research Center 
John D. Crouse 
U.S. Meat Animal Research Center 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hruskareports 
 Part of the Animal Sciences Commons 
Seideman, Steven C. and Crouse, John D., "Variation in Sensory Properties of Meat as Affected by Sex 
Condition, Muscle, and Postmortem Aging" (1985). Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. 
66. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hruskareports/66 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research 
Service, Lincoln, Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in 
Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University 
of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
Variationin SensoryPropertiesof Meatas AffectedbySexCondition,Muscle,and
PostmortemAging
StevenC.SeldemanandJohn D.Crouse'
Introduction
For several decades, the sensory propertiesof beef, partic-
ularly tenderness, have been of interest to the meat industry.
Variations in sensory properties of beef have been attributed
to muscle cut or muscle and postmortemaging. The objective
of this study was to examine the sensory properties of five
beef muscles, determine the contributionof connective tissue
(i.e., collagen) to tenderness, and investigatethe response of
various muscles to postmortemaging.
Procedure
Eight bulls and eight steers of similar backgrounds were
slaughtered. The longissimus dorsi (LD; ribeye), psoas major
(PM; tenderloin), semitendinosus (ST; eye of round), semi-
membranosus (SM; top round),and bicepsfemoris (BF; bottom
round) muscles were removed from the right and left sides of
each carcass 24 h postmortem. The muscles from the right
sides of all carcasses were immediately frozen (24 h post-
mortem)while the muscles from the leftsides of all carcasses
were aged at refrigeration temperatures for 7 days prior to
freezing.
After freezing, all muscles were cut intosteaks. Steaks were
used for sensory panel evaluations, shear force determina-
tions, and compositionalproperties.Sensory panel evaluations
were conducted using an 8-member panel. Panelists rated
steaks for juiciness, ease of fragmentation, amount of con-
nective tissue, tenderness, and flavor intensity.Cores (1.3 cm)
from cooked steaks were also sheared on an InstronUniversal
testingmachine equippedwitha Warner-Bratzlershear device.
One steak from each carcass and each muscle was powdered
in liquid nitrogen and analyzed for percentage fat, amount of
collagen (expressed on a wet basis and fat-free basis), and
percentage soluble collagen.
'Seidemanis a researchfoodtechnologistandCrouseis the re-
searchleader,MeatsUnit,MARC.
Results
Sensoryandcompositionalpropertiesoffivebovinemusclei
are shown in Table 1. The psoas major muscle was the mo~t
juicy and most tender of all muscles. Muscles were ranked i 1
order of sensory ratings; PM>ST>LD>BF>SM. The amour I
of fat (intramuscular)was highest in the PM muscle and lowe~I
in the SM muscle. The amount of collagen on a fat-free basi;
was ranked LD>ST>BF>PM>SM. The percentage collage 1
solubility was ranked LD>PM>ST>BF>SM.
Simple correlation coefficients between compositional con .
ponents and tenderness and shear force at 1 and 7 days pos .
mortem are presented in Table 2. The percentageof fat withi.
a muscle was significantly correlated to tenderness at 1 an:
7 days postmortem and to shear force at 7 days postmorten
The amount of collagen was negativelycorrelated to tende .
ness and shear force at 1 and 7 days postmortem,where€:
the percentage soluble collagen was never significantlyco
related to tenderness or shear force.
Mean values for tenderness and shear force stratified t )
muscle and postmortem aging period are shown in Table .,
Sensory tenderness ratingswere not affectedby aging perio I
however, shear force values were lower after 7 days of agir ;
as compared to samples aged for only 1 day.
The results suggest that muscles vary considerably in ten.
erness, but neither the amount or the percentage collagEr
solubility are solely responsible for differences in the tende.
ness between muscles, although the amount of collagen wa ;,
by far, the more closely correlated to tenderness difference;
The sensory panel tenderness ratingsdid not appear to retle;!;
any differences in aged muscle samples; whereas shear foreB
valuesweresubstantiallylowerfor musclesaged7days,. ::i
opposed to muscles aged for only 1 day. Research is conti I"
uing to determine why muscles differ in tenderness.
Table1.-Sensoryandcompositionalpropertiesoffivebovinemuscles
ebcdMeanson thesamelinefollowedbya commonsuperscriptarenotdifferent.
"Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale (8 = extremelyjuicy;1 = extremelydry).
'Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale(8 =extremelyeasy;1 = extremelydifficuij).
~eans basedon an 8-pointscale (8 = none;1 = abundant).
"Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale (8 = extremelytender;1 = extremelytough).
'Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale (8 = extremelyintense;1 = extremelybland).
65
Longissimus Psoas
Property dorsi major
Sensory properties
Juiciness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3b 5.8.
Ease of fragmentation' . . . . . . . . . . 4.7c 5.9.
Amountof connective
tissuea . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . . .. . . . 4.6c 5.9-
Tenderness" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.800 5.9-
Flavorintensity'. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 5.7d 5.9.
Shearforce(Ib). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.39. 5.4Sd
Compositionalproperties
Fat (pct) ...................... 2.67" 3.43.
Amountof collagen(mg/g)...... 5.73b 3.18c
Collagen solubility (pct) .. ... ... . 26.7. 16.6b
Amountof collagen(mg/g)
fatfree.. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.54. 0.56c
Muscle
Biceps
Semendinosus Semimembranosus femoris
5.2b 4.9< 5.2b
4.9b 4.5c 4.6c
4.8b 4.4c 4.5c
4.9b 4.7c 4.800
5.7cd 5.800 5.9.b
8.83c 9.3?bc 10.10b
2.27" 1.36c 2.17"
7.53. 5.05b 7.43.
15.9" 9.1c 14.5b
1.25" 0.51c 1.100
'I ilble 2.-Slmplecorrelationcoefficientsbetween
compositional componentsand tendernessand
shear force at 1 and 7 days postmortem
C mpos~ional
. )mponents
Tenderness
I: It (pct) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
)1nountof collagen.. .
~~ )lIagensolubility.. . .
"P<O.01
"'P<O.OO1
~
0.39'"
- 0.42'"
-0.02
~
0.59'"
- 0.33"
0.16
Shearforce
1 day 7 days
- 0.19 - 0.40'"
- 0.42'" 0.32"
0.08 0.13
"Iilble3.-Mean values for tendernessand shear force stratifiedby muscle and
postmortemaging period
66
Postmortem Muscte
.i ndemess agingperiod Longissimus Psoas Biceps
:I rameter (days) dorsi major Semendinosus Semimembranosusfemoris
:: 3nsory tenderness. . . . 1 4.6 5.8 5.1 4.9 4.7
7 4.8 5.9 4.9 4.7 4.8
:: lear force (Ib) . . . . . . . . 1 17.5 6.9 9.1 10.6 10.8
7 9.6 5.4 8.1 8.3 9.1


Variation in Sensory Properties of Meat as Affected by Sex Condition, Muscle, and
Postmortem Aging

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska 1985 Variation in Sensory Properties of Meat as Affected by Sex Condition, Muscle, and Postmortem Aging Steven C. Seideman U.S. Meat Animal Research Center John D. Crouse U.S. Meat Animal Research Center Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hruskareports  Part of the Animal Sciences Commons Seideman, Steven C. and Crouse, John D., "Variation in Sensory Properties of Meat as Affected by Sex Condition, Muscle, and Postmortem Aging" (1985). Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. 66. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hruskareports/66 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Variationin SensoryPropertiesof Meatas AffectedbySexCondition,Muscle,andPostmortemAgingStevenC.SeldemanandJohn D.Crouse'IntroductionFor several decades, the sensory propertiesof beef, partic-ularly tenderness, have been of interest to the meat industry.Variations in sensory properties of beef have been attributedto muscle cut or muscle and postmortemaging. The objectiveof this study was to examine the sensory properties of fivebeef muscles, determine the contributionof connective tissue(i.e., collagen) to tenderness, and investigatethe response ofvarious muscles to postmortemaging.ProcedureEight bulls and eight steers of similar backgrounds wereslaughtered. The longissimus dorsi (LD; ribeye), psoas major(PM; tenderloin), semitendinosus (ST; eye of round), semi-membranosus (SM; top round),and bicepsfemoris (BF; bottomround) muscles were removed from the right and left sides ofeach carcass 24 h postmortem. The muscles from the rightsides of all carcasses were immediately frozen (24 h post-mortem)while the muscles from the leftsides of all carcasseswere aged at refrigeration temperatures for 7 days prior tofreezing.After freezing, all muscles were cut intosteaks. Steaks wereused for sensory panel evaluations, shear force determina-tions, and compositionalproperties.Sensory panel evaluationswere conducted using an 8-member panel. Panelists ratedsteaks for juiciness, ease of fragmentation, amount of con-nective tissue, tenderness, and flavor intensity.Cores (1.3 cm)from cooked steaks were also sheared on an InstronUniversaltestingmachine equippedwitha Warner-Bratzlershear device.One steak from each carcass and each muscle was powderedin liquid nitrogen and analyzed for percentage fat, amount ofcollagen (expressed on a wet basis and fat-free basis), andpercentage soluble collagen.'Seidemanis a researchfoodtechnologistandCrouseis the re-searchleader,MeatsUnit,MARC.ResultsSensoryandcompositionalpropertiesoffivebovinemuscleiare shown in Table 1. The psoas major muscle was the mo~tjuicy and most tender of all muscles. Muscles were ranked i 1order of sensory ratings; PM>ST>LD>BF>SM. The amour Iof fat (intramuscular)was highest in the PM muscle and lowe~Iin the SM muscle. The amount of collagen on a fat-free basi;was ranked LD>ST>BF>PM>SM. The percentage collage 1solubility was ranked LD>PM>ST>BF>SM.Simple correlation coefficients between compositional con .ponents and tenderness and shear force at 1 and 7 days pos .mortem are presented in Table 2. The percentageof fat withi.a muscle was significantly correlated to tenderness at 1 an:7 days postmortem and to shear force at 7 days postmortenThe amount of collagen was negativelycorrelated to tende .ness and shear force at 1 and 7 days postmortem,where€:the percentage soluble collagen was never significantlycorelated to tenderness or shear force.Mean values for tenderness and shear force stratified t )muscle and postmortem aging period are shown in Table .,Sensory tenderness ratingswere not affectedby aging perio Ihowever, shear force values were lower after 7 days of agir ;as compared to samples aged for only 1 day.The results suggest that muscles vary considerably in ten.erness, but neither the amount or the percentage collagErsolubility are solely responsible for differences in the tende.ness between muscles, although the amount of collagen wa ;,by far, the more closely correlated to tenderness difference;The sensory panel tenderness ratingsdid not appear to retle;!;any differences in aged muscle samples; whereas shear foreBvaluesweresubstantiallylowerfor musclesaged7days,. ::iopposed to muscles aged for only 1 day. Research is conti I"uing to determine why muscles differ in tenderness.Table1.-SensoryandcompositionalpropertiesoffivebovinemusclesebcdMeanson thesamelinefollowedbya commonsuperscriptarenotdifferent."Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale (8 = extremelyjuicy;1 = extremelydry).'Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale(8 =extremelyeasy;1 = extremelydifficuij).~eans basedon an 8-pointscale (8 = none;1 = abundant)."Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale (8 = extremelytender;1 = extremelytough).'Meansbasedon an 8-pointscale (8 = extremelyintense;1 = extremelybland).65Longissimus PsoasProperty dorsi majorSensory propertiesJuiciness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3b 5.8.Ease of fragmentation' . . . . . . . . . . 4.7c 5.9.Amountof connectivetissuea . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . . .. . . . 4.6c 5.9-Tenderness" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.800 5.9-Flavorintensity'. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 5.7d 5.9.Shearforce(Ib). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.39. 5.4SdCompositionalpropertiesFat (pct) ...................... 2.67" 3.43.Amountof collagen(mg/g)...... 5.73b 3.18cCollagen solubility (pct) .. ... ... . 26.7. 16.6bAmountof collagen(mg/g)fatfree.. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.54. 0.56cMuscleBicepsSemendinosus Semimembranosus femoris5.2b 4.9< 5.2b4.9b 4.5c 4.6c4.8b 4.4c 4.5c4.9b 4.7c 4.8005.7cd 5.800 5.9.b8.83c 9.3?bc 10.10b2.27" 1.36c 2.17"7.53. 5.05b 7.43.15.9" 9.1c 14.5b1.25" 0.51c 1.100'I ilble 2.-Slmplecorrelationcoefficientsbetweencompositional componentsand tendernessandshear force at 1 and 7 days postmortemC mpos~ional. )mponentsTendernessI: It (pct) . . . . . . . . . . . . .)1nountof collagen.. .~~ )lIagensolubility.. . ."P<O.01"'P<O.OO1~0.39'"- 0.42'"-0.02~0.59'"- 0.33"0.16Shearforce1 day 7 days- 0.19 - 0.40'"- 0.42'" 0.32"0.08 0.13"Iilble3.-Mean values for tendernessand shear force stratifiedby muscle andpostmortemaging period66Postmortem Muscte.i ndemess agingperiod Longissimus Psoas Biceps:I rameter (days) dorsi major Semendinosus Semimembranosusfemoris:: 3nsory tenderness. . . . 1 4.6 5.8 5.1 4.9 4.77 4.8 5.9 4.9 4.7 4.8:: lear force (Ib) . . . . . . . . 1 17.5 6.9 9.1 10.6 10.87 9.6 5.4 8.1 8.3 9.1

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Variation in Sensory Properties of Meat as Affected by Sex Condition, Muscle, and Postmortem Aging

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