Variation in Flavor and Textural Descriptions of Cooked Steaks from Bovine m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum from Different Production and Aging Regimes

Abstract

: Free choice profiling (FCP) and generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA) were used to assess flavor differences in cooked bovine m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) steaks sourced wholesale or from steers fed the same diet. Wholesale steaks were from LTL muscles that were either unaged or aged for 93 d with high or low visible marbling from old and young grass- and grain-finished cattle. The GPA of this sensory data showed that the 1st dimension contrasted grass- and grain-finished beef and accounted for 44.1% of the total variance, whereas the 2nd dimension contrasted unaged and aged beef and accounted for 22.9% of the variance. GPA was also used to assess flavor variation in cooked LTL steaks aged 4 or 14 d postmortem from 10 steers finished on the same diet, and the 1st 2 dimensions accounted for 39% of the total variance. Univariate analysis of beef aroma, flavor intensity, tenderness, and juiciness showed only tenderness increased with aging (P= 0.041) and Duncan's multiple comparison test on all FCP data indicated that aging beef up to 14 d shifted beef sensory characteristics toward increased tenderness, juiciness, and fatty flavor. The results of these studies showed that distinct flavors exist in beef from cattle finished in different production systems and that there is less variation in the flavor of beef from steers produced on the same farm than in beef available for general retail.