The identification of dark cutting beef carcasses in Australia, using Nix Pro Color Sensor™ colour measures, and their relationship to bolar blade, striploin and topside quality traits

Benjamin W B Holman; Matthew J Kerr; Stephen Morris; David L Hopkins

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.10.002

The identification of dark cutting beef carcasses in Australia, using Nix Pro Color Sensor™ colour measures, and their relationship to bolar blade, striploin and topside quality traits

Meat Sci. 2019 Feb:148:50-54. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.10.002. Epub 2018 Oct 4.

Authors

Benjamin W B Holman¹, Matthew J Kerr², Stephen Morris³, David L Hopkins²

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Red Meat and Sheep Development, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, New South Wales 2794, Australia. Electronic address: benjamin.holman@dpi.nsw.gov.au.
² Centre for Red Meat and Sheep Development, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, New South Wales 2794, Australia.
³ Wollongbar Primary Industries Institute, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wollongbar, New South Wales 2480, Australia.

PMID: 30316190
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2018.10.002

Abstract

Within 24 h post-mortem, loin surfaces of Australian beef carcasses (n = 436) were evaluated using the Nix Pro Color Sensor™ (NIX). The potential for colorimetrics (L*, a*, b*, hue and chroma) to discriminate between dark cutting (DC) and non-dark cutting (nDC) carcasses was compared. For this purpose, a chroma threshold of 30.5 delivered maximum total sensitivity and specificity. The bolar blade, striploin and topside from a selection of DC and nDC carcasses were also removed, aged for 14 d and tested for shear force, drip loss, cooking loss, ultimate pH, colour change over 3 d display (ΔE), and sarcomere length. Association between chroma values and these quality traits were investigated by linear models. The hypothesis of zero slope was rejected (P < 0.05) for pH on striploin and topside, but the models had poor predictive ability (R² = 0.23). The NIX was found to be a viable grading tool, with limited capacity to provide additional insights into beef quality.

Keywords: Beef; Carcass grade; Colorimeter; Colour; Eating quality; Prediction.

MeSH terms

Animals
Australia
Cattle
Color*
Colorimetry / instrumentation*
Food Quality
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Muscle, Skeletal
Red Meat / analysis*
Reproducibility of Results
Sarcomeres
Shear Strength