APPLICATION OF MULTIPLE PAIRED COMPARISONS IN STUDYING THE EFFECT OF AGING AND FINISH ON BEEF TENDERNESS

Abstract

Twenty-four Canada Choice beef carcasses were used to study the effect of aging period (2, 9, and 16 days) and finish (high and low) on cooked beef tenderness. Tenderness of the longissimus dorsi (LD) and the semimembranosus (SM) muscles was evaluated by means of paired comparisons by a trained taste panel and a Warner-Bratzler shearing device.According to the sensory analyses, the 2-day samples were tougher than the 9-day samples in both the LD and SM. The 16-day samples were not more tender than the 9-day samples. There was interaction between finish and aging. The shear tests showed that the SM aged for 2 days was tougher than that aged for 9 or 16 days. There were indications that the rate of tenderness development during aging was affected by the degree of finish and by the muscle involved. Both the panel and the shear results showed that after aging for 9 or 16 days, there was no appreciable difference in tenderness between high and low finish. Tenderness was not associated with the level of intramuscular fat as estimated from sampling the cooked roasts.