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Contribution of connective tissue components, muscle fibres and marbling to beef tenderness variability in longissimus thoracis, rectus abdominis, semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscles
Author(s) -
Listrat Anne,
Gagaoua Mohammed,
Normand Jérome,
Gruffat Dominique,
Andueza Donato,
Mairesse Guillaume,
Mourot BenoîtPierre,
Chesneau Guillaume,
Gobert Christelle,
Picard Brigitte
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.10275
Subject(s) - tenderness , longissimus thoracis , connective tissue , anatomy , marbled meat , rectus abdominis muscle , medicine , biology , food science , zoology , pathology
Abstract BACKGROUND The present study aimed to identify relationships between components of intramuscular connective tissue, proportions of the different fiber types, intramuscular fat and sensory tenderness of beef cooked at 55 °C. Accordingly, four muscles differing in their metabolic and contractile properties, as well as in their collagen content and butcher value, were obtained from dairy and beef cattle of several ages and sexes and were then used to create variability. RESULTS Correlation analyses and/or stepwise regressions were applied on Z ‐scores to identify the existing and robust associations. Tenderness scores were further categorized into tender, medium and tough classes using unsupervised learning methods. The findings revealed a muscle‐dependant role with respect to tenderness of total and insoluble collagen, cross‐links, and type IIB + X and IIA muscle fibers. The longissimus thoracis and semitendinosus muscles that, in the present study, were found to be extreme in their tenderness potential were also very different from each other and from the rectus abdominis (RA) and semimembranosus (SM). RA and SM muscles were very similar regarding their relationship for muscle components and tenderness. A relationship between marbling and tenderness was only present when the results were analysed irrespective of all factors of variation of the experimental model relating to muscle and animal type. CONCLUSION The statistical approaches applied in the present study using Z ‐scores allowed identification of the robust associations between muscle components and sensory beef tenderness and also identified discriminatory variables of beef tenderness classes. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry