Prediction of consumer palatability in beef using visual marbling scores and chemical intramuscular fat percentage

S M Stewart; G E Gardner; P McGilchrist; D W Pethick; R Polkinghorne; J M Thompson; G Tarr

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2020.108322

Prediction of consumer palatability in beef using visual marbling scores and chemical intramuscular fat percentage

Meat Sci. 2021 Nov:181:108322. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2020.108322. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Authors

S M Stewart¹, G E Gardner², P McGilchrist³, D W Pethick², R Polkinghorne⁴, J M Thompson⁵, G Tarr⁶

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Livestock Measurement Technologies (ALMTech), Murdoch University, College of Science, Health and Engineering, Western Australia 6150, Australia. Electronic address: S.Stewart@murdoch.edu.au.
² Advanced Livestock Measurement Technologies (ALMTech), Murdoch University, College of Science, Health and Engineering, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
³ Advanced Livestock Measurement Technologies (ALMTech), Murdoch University, College of Science, Health and Engineering, Western Australia 6150, Australia; University of New England, School of Environmental and Rural Science, New South Wales 2351, Australia.
⁴ University of New England, School of Environmental and Rural Science, New South Wales 2351, Australia; Birkenwood Pty. Ltd, 431 Timor Rd, Murrurundi, NSW, Australia.
⁵ University of New England, School of Environmental and Rural Science, New South Wales 2351, Australia.
⁶ The University of Sydney, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.

PMID: 33067083
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2020.108322

Abstract

With development of objective technologies that can predict chemical intramuscular fat percentage (IMF%), there is a need to understand the relationships between existing marbling traits, IMF% and eating quality. This study utilised historical carcass data (n = 9641 observations) from the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) industry research dataset and included MSA grading data, chemical IMF% data and weighted composite eating quality scores (MQ4). Several analyses were performed to assess the prediction of MQ4 by MSA marbling, M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (striploin) IMF% and cut specific IMF%. Results demonstrated that there was similar precision between chemical IMF% (R² = 0.32, RSE = 11.8) and MSA marbling (R² = 0.28, RSE = 11.9) in the prediction of grilled 14 day aged striploin MQ4, with similar results across other cut by cook by days aged combinations. These results support the development of objective technologies that predict chemical IMF% in parallel with MSA marbling for carcass grading and the prediction of eating quality.

Keywords: Eating quality; IMF; M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum; Meat quality.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue*
Animals
Australia
Cattle
Consumer Behavior
Cooking
Food Handling / methods
Food Quality
Humans
Muscle, Skeletal
Red Meat / analysis*
Red Meat / standards