Color and lipid stability of dry aged beef during retail display

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine color and lipid stability of steaks from dry-aged beef loins over 7 d of retail display (RD). Sixteen boneless strip loins were assigned to one of four treatments: wet-aging, dry aging at 50% relative humidity (RH), dry aging at 70% RH, or dry aging at 85% RH and aged for 42 days at 2 °C. Dry aging of beef resulted in decreased lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) values and increased lipid oxidation compared to wet-aged counterparts (P < 0.05). Dry-aged steaks had greater discoloration (P < 0.05) than wet-aged steaks from d 4 to d 7 of RD. Results suggest that under prolonged RD, dry aging of beef has the potential to reduce color and lipid stability compared to wet aging and thus reduce display life. Color and lipid stability were not affected by RH during dry aging.