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Beef is an important food for Chinese people and understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that impact on their satisfaction and purchasing behavior is necessary for industry growth. This was confirmed using an online survey that included 26 questions and 3617 valid responses, mainly from people located in North and East China. It was found that 47.7 % of Chinese residents like to eat beef, and they perceive beef as healthy and of high nutritional value. Chilled beef, exclusive of hot-boned or frozen products, was preferred by the majority (58.2 %) of respondents. Shank was the most popular beef cut for Chinese consumers, reflecting that stewing was found to be the preferred method for cooking beef. There were demographic differences in consumption frequency, purchase location, and the most important sensory qualities of beef for Chinese consumers. Male consumers placed more importance on the marbling of beef compared to female consumers (P < 0.05). Meat color, marbling, and price were ranked as the top three factors considered when respondents were purchasing beef. Eating and cooking habits had the strongest effect on consumer willingness to purchase beef. These findings will help to support consumer orientated beef production and processing in North and East China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Dry-aged beef is a premium product known for its unique taste and aroma. These characteristics are thought to partially depend on the composition of the microorganisms present on the meat surface during ageing. Recently several attempts to standardise this process were made. This study aimed to assess the effect of a fungal biostarter application on the profile of volatile compounds, fatty acid composition and sensory quality of dry-aged beef. The Longissimus muscle used in the experiment originated from 20 crossbred (10 heifers and 10 steers) animals from the crossing of Holstein-Friesian cows with beef breed bulls. A fungal biostarter composed of Mucor flavus strain KKP2092p was used for meat inoculation. Half of the material was aged without the use of a biostarter (Control samples). The dry-ageing of the meat was performed at a temperature of 1.5 °C with approximately 80-90 % relative humidity for 28 days. The use of Mucor flavus KKP2092p improved meat quality attributes (aroma liking, flavour and overall liking) as a result of the formation of specific volatile compounds. The profile of volatile compounds in the meat aged with Mucor flavus and control variants was differentiated. This study also indicated that Mucor flavus biostarter had an impact on the specific fatty acid composition. An insignificant effect of Mucor flavus on lipid oxidation expressed as mg/kg of malonaldehyde was also observed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)