Comparative quality assessment of meat with NOR, PSE and DFD attributes was given in the paper. Application of NOR, PSE and DFD beef indicators in the industry was substantiated. The basic causes of attributes with the specific autolysis development were analyzed and it was found that these are age peculiarities, improper preparation of animals for slaughter and violation of their feeding and keeping. As a result, meat with deviated development of autolytic processes, including the emergence of NOR, PSE and DFD attributes may be observed. For this purpose, organoleptic quality assessment of the NOR, PSE and DFD meat in different age periods was conducted. It was found that the pigmentation in beef has directly proportional dependence on the age and sex of slaughtered animals and the meat color. The pigmentation in DFD meat was higher compared to NOR meat from bulls aged 18-24 months - by 85.9% (p<0.001); bulls aged 24-36 months - by 86.8% (p<0.001); cows - by 74.8% (p<0.001). Least pigments are contained in PSE beef: from bulls aged 18-24 months - 1.88 mg/cm 3 , bulls aged 24-36 months - 2.09, cows - 2.71 mg/cm 3 , so pale pink color is typical for such meat.