Fragmentation Index of Raw Muscle as a Tenderness Predictor of Steaks from US Good and US Standard Steer and Bullock Carcasses

Authors

Chris R. Calkins, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
G. W. Davis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Date of this Version

1980

Comments

Published in Journal of Animal Science Vol. 50, No. 6,1980. Copyright © 1980 American Society of Animal Science. Used by permission.

Abstract

Thirty steer (10 US Good, 20 US Standard) and 10 bullock carcasses (one US Good, nine US Standard) were selected from two commercial meat packing firms and aged for 10 to 14 days in a 2 C cooler. Each carcass was assigned scores for the various USDA quality and yield grade factors during a 48- to 120-hr post-mortem selection period. Steaks containing the longissimus muscle were obtained from the anterior end of the short loin and cooked to 70 C. They were then measured for tenderness with the Warner-Bratzler shear and evaluated by a trained eight-member sensory panel.