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Initial Physical and Chemical Changes in Beef as Related to Tenderness¹

Research Laboratories—Swift & Co.

Abstract

A study was made to develop information on the initial tenderness of beef and to determine the relationship of some physical, chemical, and histological changes in the beef to changes in tenderness during a twelve-day period following slaughter. Experiments were made on ten beef carcasses which ranged in quality from common to choice.

Objective and subjective measurements of tenderness showed that beef which was chilled in carcass form was more tender than beef which was boned and then chilled to 35°F.

Beef was found to be more tender at two hours following slaughter than at any time thereafter for the next two to six days. By the twelfth day following slaughter, beef which was stored at 35°F. was considerably more tender than it was at two hours after slaughter. Beef which was frozen two hours following slaughter was lighter in color in the frozen state and darker in the thawed state than beef which was chilled for 24 hours or more before freezing.

Photomicrographs show that marked changes occurred in the histological characteristics of the muscle fibers. These changes were correlated with changes in the tenderness of the beef.

¹ This paper was presented at the fortieth annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Production, November 27, 1948, Chicago, Illinois.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. G. Sharp Ways of Influencing Tenderness in Meat The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, May 1, 1966; 86(3): 156 - 162.