R.K. Miller

Comparison of sensory characteristics and fatty acid composition between Wagyu crossbred and Angus steers

Angus (n = 10) and crossbred (3 4 and 7 8 ) Wagyu (n = 10) steers were fed a diet according to typical Japanese standards for 552 days. The steers were fed to gain approximately 0·90 kg/head/day. Fatty acid composition was determined for subcutaneous and intramuscular adipose tissue, and M. longissimus dorsi muscle. Trained sensory evaluation and a consumer triangle test were performed on M. longissimus dorsi muscle steaks. For subcutaneous and intramuscular tissue. Wagyu adipose tissue possessed higher (P < 0·05) percentages of 14:1, 16:1 and 18:1 and a lower (P < 0·05) percentage of 16:0 and 18:0 than corresponding tissues from Angus steers. Trained sensory panel analysis revealed no differences (P < 0·05) in any of the sensory traits between steaks from Wagyu crossbred and Angus steers. However, a consumer triangle test indicated that consumers can detect a difference between breeds.

Sodium lactate and storage temperature effects on shelf life of vacuum packaged beef top rounds

Cooked, vacuum-packaged beef top rounds containing up to 4% sodium lactate (NaL) in the final product were stored at 0, 4, 10 or 16°C for 1, 7, 14 or 21 days. Aerobic plate counts (APCs) were lower for roasts containing 3 or 4% NaL and stored at 10°C for 7 days. At higher temperatures and longer storage times, only those treated with 4% NaL were lower than controls. Lipid oxidation, Hunter L* and b* values decreased and Hunter a* values, cooked yields and Ph increased with NaL addition. Beefy odor decreased with storage but was higher in roasts containing NaL. Roasts with added NaL had lower rancid odor scores.

Factors influencing the variation in tenderness of seven major beef muscles from three Angus and Brahman breed crosses.

Beef carcasses (n=30) from 3/4 Angus (A)×1/4 Brahman (B), 1/4A×3/4B, and 1/2A×1/2B F(1) crosses were used to evaluate breed type, electrical stimulation, and postmortem aging on the M. semimembranosus (SM), M. semitendinosus (ST), M. biceps femoris (BF), M. vastus lateralis (VL), M. gluteus medius (GM), M. longissimus dorsi lumborum (LD), and M. triceps brachii (TB). Shear force values decreased with increased postmortem aging to a greater extent in steaks from 3/4A×1/4B than steaks from the other breed types. Shear force values for steaks from the round (SM, ST, BF, VL) were higher than steaks from the loin (LD, GM) and chuck (TB) for both electrically stimulated and non-electrically stimulated muscles. In the LD muscle, calpastatin activities were similar among breed types. Muscle type played the greatest role in determining tenderness.

National beef tenderness survey – 2006: Assessment of Warner–Bratzler shear and sensory panel ratings for beef from US retail and foodservice establishments

Beef from retail and foodservice establishments in 11 US cities was evaluated using Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) and consumer evaluation panels. Postmortem aging times ranged from 3 to 83d for retail and 7 to 136d for foodservice with mean aging times of 22.6d and 30.1d, respectively. For retail, the three cuts from the round - top round, bottom round, and eye of round - had the highest (P<0.05) WBS values compared to cuts from the chuck, rib, and loin. Top loin steaks had the lowest (P<0.05) WBS value compared to ribeye and top sirloin foodservice steaks. Retail bone-in top loin, top loin, ribeye, T-bone, and porterhouse received the highest (P<0.05) ratings by consumers for overall like and like tenderness. Quality grade had little or no effect on foodservice sensory evaluations. Improvements in round tenderness are needed to increase consumer acceptability.

Consumer perceptions of pork eating quality as affected by pork quality attributes and end-point cooked temperature

The study evaluated the interactive and individual effects of fresh pork loin (n=679) ultimate pH (pH), intramuscular fat (IMF), Minolta L* color (L*), Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS), and four cooked temperatures (62.8 degrees C, 68.3 degrees C, 73.9 degrees C, and 79.4 degrees C) on consumer (n=2280) perception of eating quality (n=13,265 observations). Data were analyzed using ordered logistical regression. Predicted mean responses were consistently near or under five on the 1-8-point end-anchored scale, indicating a neutral perception of pork eating quality regardless of fresh quality or cooked temperature. Responses improved as IMF and pH increased and WBS decreased, whereas L* did not contribute significantly to variation in responses. Increasing IMF resulted in a very small incremental improvement in responses, but was of practical size only when comparing the least (1%) to the greatest (6%) levels. Loin pH and WBS were primary contributors to consumer perceptions, whereby an incremental increase in pH (0.20 unit) and decrease in WBS (4.9 N) resulted in a 4-5% reduction in the proportion of consumers rating pork as >or= 6 (favorable) on the 8-point scale. No interactions between quality and temperature effects were observed. Increased cooked temperature was negatively (P<0.05) associated with Overall-Like and Tenderness ratings, but the incremental effect was small. Juiciness-Like and Level responses decreased by 0.50 units as temperature increased across the range. Consumer responses favor pork with lower WBS, greater pH and IMF, and pork cooked to a lower temperature.

Antioxidant Properties of Dried Plum Ingredients in Raw and Precooked Pork Sausage

Raw pork sausages with no antioxidant (control), 3% or 6% dried plum puree (DP), 3% or 6% dried plum and apple puree (DPA), or 0.02% butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA/BHT) were (1) stored raw in chubs at 4 degrees C (RR) and evaluated weekly over 28 d, (2) cooked as patties, vacuum packaged, and stored at 4 degrees C (PR) for weekly evaluation over 28 d, or (3) cooked, vacuum packaged, and stored at -20 degrees C (PF) and evaluated monthly over 90 d. DP at 3% or 6% levels was as effective as BHA/BHT for retarding lipid oxidation in PR sausage patties. Likewise, DP at 3% was equally as effective in PF patties, but DP at 6% was even more effective (lower TBARS values) than BHA/BHT for retarding oxidative rancidity. All treatments decreased the fat and increased moisture content of raw sausages but only 6% DP reduced cooking yields. Inclusion of 6% DP decreased internal redness while both 6% DP and DPA increased yellowness of raw sausage. Trained panel sensory evaluations indicated that DP enhanced sweet taste, decreased salt and bitter tastes, and masked cooked pork/brothy, cooked pork fat, spicy/peppery, and sage flavors. In general, warmed-over flavor notes were not affected by storage treatments. Overall, pork sausage with 3% DP or DPA was as acceptable to consumers as the control or those patties with BHA/BHT, but patties with 6% of either plum product were less desirable. Inclusion of 3% DP was effective as a natural antioxidant for suppressing lipid oxidation in precooked pork sausage patties.

Antioxidant properties of plum concentrates and powder in precooked roast beef to reduce lipid oxidation

Boneless beef roasts (Semimembranosus+Adductor) were injected (20%) with a brine containing (1) no plum ingredient (control), (2) 2.5 or 5% fresh plum juice concentrate (FP), (3) 2.5 or 5% dried plum juice concentrate (DP), or (4) 2.5 or 5% spray dried plum powder (PP). Whole roasts were cooked, vacuum-packaged and stored at <4.0°C for 10wk. At 2wk intervals, evaluations were performed on sliced product to determine vacuum-packaged purge, Allo-Kramer shear force, lipid oxidation (TBARS), color space values, and sensory attributes. All plum ingredients reduced TBARS values and had minimal effects on tenderness, sensory characteristics, color and appearance. Small changes in purge, color values, TBARS and some sensory properties were found during storage. These results indicate that 2.5% FP or DP could be incorporated into precooked beef roasts to reduce lipid oxidation and potentially, warmed-over flavor (WOF).

Dry versus wet aging of beef: Retail cutting yields and consumer sensory attribute evaluations of steaks from ribeyes, strip loins, and top sirloins from two quality grade groups

Top Choice (n=48) and Select (n=48) paired bone-in ribeye rolls, bone-in strip loins, and boneless top sirloin butts were assigned randomly to one of two aging treatments, dry or wet, and were aged for 14, 21, 28 or 35d. Cutting tests, performed to determine retail yields and processing times, showed dry-aged subprimals had lower total saleable yield percentages and increased processing times compared to wet-aged subprimals. Sensory and Warner-Bratzler shear evaluation was conducted to determine palatability characteristics. For the most part, aging treatment and aging period did not affect consumer sensory attributes. However, ribeye and top loin steaks from the Top Choice quality grade group received higher sensory ratings than their Select counterparts. For top sirloin steaks, no consumer sensory attributes were affected by aging treatment, aging period, or quality grade group.

Determination of sensory, chemical and cooking characteristics of retail beef cuts differing in intramuscular and external fat

Top loin (TLS), top sirloin (TSS), and eye of round (EYS) steaks, and loin end (LRR) and blade end (BRR) rib, and eye of round (EYR) roasts were used to determine the effect of USDA quality grade, Choice or Select, external fat trim level, and internal temperature endpoint on sensory, chemical and cooking characteristics. Cuts cooked with external fat required slightly greater cooking times and had higher fat content in the lean than cuts cooked without external fat (p < 0.05). Regardless of quality grade or external fat trim, increasing internal temperature endpoint resulted in tougher, drier cuts with longer cooking times and greater cooking loss (p < 0.05). Choice TLS, TSS and LRR were higher (p < 0.05) in palatability than Select, but quality grade did not affect palatability of BRR, EYS or EYR.

National Beef Tenderness Survey–2010: Warner-Bratzler shear force values and sensory panel ratings for beef steaks from United States retail and food service establishments

The tenderness and palatability of retail and food service beef steaks from across the United States (12 cities for retail, 5 cities for food service) were evaluated using Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) and consumer sensory panels. Subprimal postfabrication storage or aging times at retail establishments averaged 20.5 d with a range of 1 to 358 d, whereas postfabrication times at the food service level revealed an average time of 28.1 d with a range of 9 to 67 d. Approximately 64% of retail steaks were labeled with a packer/processor or store brand. For retail, top blade had among the lowest (P < 0.05) WBS values, whereas steaks from the round had the greatest (P < 0.05) values. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in WBS values between moist-heat and dry-heat cookery methods for the top round and bottom round steaks or between enhanced (contained salt or phosphate solution) or nonenhanced steaks. Food service top loin and rib eye steaks had the lowest (P < 0.05) WBS values compared with top sirloin steaks. Retail top blade steaks and food service top loin steaks received among the greatest (P < 0.05) consumer sensory panel ratings compared with the other steaks evaluated. Prime food service rib eye steaks received the greatest ratings (P < 0.05) for overall like, like tenderness, tenderness level, like juiciness, and juiciness level, whereas ungraded rib eye steaks received the lowest ratings (P < 0.05) for like tenderness and tenderness level. The WBS values for food service steaks were greater (P < 0.05) for the Select and ungraded groups compared with the Prime, Top Choice, and Low Choice groups. The WBS values and sensory ratings were comparable to the last survey, signifying that no recent or substantive changes in tenderness have occurred.