1. Pre-rigor temperature control of Chinese yellow cattle carcasses to 12-18 °C during chilling improves beef tenderness.
- Author
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Liu Y, Mao Y, Zhang Y, Liang R, Wang R, Zhu L, Meng X, and Luo X
- Subjects
- Animals, Cattle, China, Humans, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Muscle, Skeletal, Rigor Mortis, Cold Temperature, Food Handling methods, Meat analysis, Myofibrils, Postmortem Changes, Refrigeration methods, Stress, Mechanical
- Abstract
This study evaluates the effects of pre-rigor temperature control on quality traits of Chinese yellow cattle M. longissimus lumborum (LL). One stepwise chilling (SC) treatment was used on one half-carcass, involved a fast chilling (-11 ± 1 °C;0.5 m/s) for 2h, then the refrigeration was stopped to hold a core temperature of 12-18 °C until 10h postmortem, followed by a 1 ± 1 °C chilling (0.5 m/s) to 48h postmortem. The other half-carcass was conventional chilled at 1 ± 1 °C (0.5 m/s) until 48h as control chilling (CC). Quality attributes were evaluated at 1, 7 and 14 days. The SC treatment resulted in decreased WBSF and increased myofibril fragmentation index compared with control. SC-treated LL at 7d postmortem had a lower WBSF than those of CC-treated at 14d. This pre-rigor temperature controlled chilling is a realistic alternative for the beef industry in China to ensure adequate tenderness and shorten aging time.
- Published
- 2015
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