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Mechanical measures of uncooked beef longissimus muscle can predict sensory panel tenderness and Warner-Bratzler shear force of cooked steaks¹

R. R. Timm^*, J. A. Unruh^*,2, M. E. Dikeman^*, M. C. Hunt^*, T. E. Lawrence^*, J. E. Boyer, Jr. and J. L. Marsden^*

^* Departments of Animal Sciences and Industry and and Statistics, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506

² Correspondence:
248 Weber Hall (phone: 785-532-1245; fax: 785-532-7059; E-mail:
junruh{at}oznet.ksu.edu).

Two experiments were conducted to investigate mechanical measures of tenderness on uncooked USDA Select longissimus muscle as a means to predict Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and trained sensory panel tenderness (SPT) of cooked steaks. In Exp. 1, strip loins (n = 24) were aged 14 d postmortem and fabricated into steaks (2.54 cm). Medial, center, and lateral locations within uncooked steaks were evaluated by a plumb bob device and correlated with WBSF and SPT of cooked steaks. In Exp. 2, 24 strip loins were used to evaluate how well plumb bob and needle probe devices used on uncooked steaks predicted WBSF and SPT of cooked steaks. At 2 d postmortem, two steaks were fabricated from the anterior end. One uncooked steak (2.54 cm) was assigned to the plumb bob treatment and the other uncooked steak (5.08 cm) was assigned to needle probe treatment. At 14 d postmortem, one uncooked steak (5.08 cm) was assigned to needle probe treatment, a second uncooked steak (2.54 cm) was assigned to plumb bob treatment, whereas the remaining steaks (2.54 cm) were cooked and evaluated by a trained sensory panel and WBSF device. In Exp. 1, average plumb bob values were negatively correlated (P < 0.05) to average SPT scores (r = -0.48). However, correlations between WBSF and plumb bob values for medial, lateral, and average of all sections were not significant (P > 0.05). In Exp. 2, regression models to predict SPT from needle probe and plumb bob measurements individually taken at 2 d postmortem had R² of 0.54 and 0.51, respectively. Combining needle probe and plumb bob measurements resulted in an R² of 0.76; when quadratic terms for both variables were in the model, the R² was 0.80. Regressing needle probe and plumb bob measurements at 2 d postmortem with WBSF produced R² values of 0.51 and 0.45, respectively. If linear terms of both probes were combined to predict WBSF, the R² increased to 0.77. An equation to predict WBSF, including both the linear and quadratic terms of needle probe and plumb bob measurements, resulted in an R² of 0.84. Using plumb bob and needle probe devices on uncooked longissimus muscle at 2 d postmortem can predict cooked WBSF and SPT of USDA Select Grade steaks at 14 d postmortem.

Key Words: Beef • Longissimus Dorsi • Meat Quality • Tenderness

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. W. Stephens, J. A. Unruh, M. E. Dikeman, M. C. Hunt, T. E. Lawrence, and T. M. Loughin Mechanical probes can predict tenderness of cooked beef longissimus using uncooked measurements J Anim Sci, July 1, 2004; 82(7): 2077 - 2086. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]