Meat quality traits of longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and triceps brachii muscles from Chianina beef cattle slaughtered at two different ages

Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of muscle and slaughtering age on some meat quality traits of fortyeightcarcasses of Chianina beef cattle raised on the same farm and slaughtered at an age ranging between 18 and 21months. After the usual commercial ageing period for Chianina carcasses, longissimus thoracis, semitendinosus and tricepsbrachii muscles were taken and analyzed instrumentally for pH, meat color, water holding capacity, tenderness andchemical composition. To compare the quality characteristics of the three muscles at different age, all data were subdividedin two groups: slaughtering age 18-19 months (n=25) and 20-21 months (n=23). Quality characteristics of meatderived from the three muscles analyzed were different: semitendinosus muscle showed higher values of Lightness (L*)and Hue (H*), thus lighter and paler meat, but was less tender and had a higher cooking loss. Meat derived from tricepsbrachii muscle had the lowest values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*) thus meat slightly darker; with regard to the otherquality parameters, longissimus thoracis gave more tender meat with better water holding capacity than triceps brachii.The meat analyzed had a very low content of intramuscular fat (expressed as ether extract (%)), a very well-known characteristicof Chianina meat.The comparison between meat derived from 18-19 month old beef and from 20-21 month old beef shows that only redness(a*) and Chroma (C*) increased significantly with the increase in slaughtering age, but these results do not inducedifferences in meat color appreciation, as shown by the similar values of Lightness (L*) and Hue (H*).Water holding capacity, tenderness and chemical composition were not influenced by slaughtering age.

Keywords

• Chianina beef, Meat quality, Muscle, Slaughtering age.