Influence of dietary vitamin D3 supplementation on the sarcomere length,Warner–Bratzler shear force, shortening of ageing time, and sensory acceptanceof culinary beef muscles

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of dietary vitamin D 3 supplementation on ageing time, tenderness, and consumer acceptance of 3 muscles: longissimus lumborum, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus from crossbreed bulls. Bulls (n = 48) were divided into 4 experimental groups (n = 12 each) that were administered ground oats supplemented with various amounts of vitamin D 3 (0.0, 3.5, 7.0, or 10.0 × 10 6 IU) at 1 day before slaughter. To determine the effect of vitamin D 3 addition, changes in tenderness were measured by sarcomere length and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF). In addition, all of the muscles were examined organoleptically by a team of 20 panelists. The results show that the dose of vitamin D 3 significantly (P < 0.01) increased the sarcomere length and reduced the WBSF-value during ageing, as compared to meat samples from the control group (without vitamin D 3 ). The 7.0 × 10 6 IU dose was found to be the most effective (P < 0.01). Consumer research data confirmed the findings of the instrumental analyses.