Meat-grain-size (MGS) assessment is an empirical method for the early prediction of meat quality, a larger grain being synonymous with higher meat tenderness. The objective was to characterize 4 muscles ( longissimus thoracis LT; rectus abdominis RA; longus colli LC; diaphragma D) of 5 coarse and 5 fine carcasses in terms of MGS in order to establish a link between muscular physicochemical properties and carcass MGS score. All comparisons were made of samples with similar fat content. The broiled sample hardness (shear force) was significantly higher for the coarse group than for the fine group (7.20 vs 5.89 kg; RA). Higher collagen content (27.94 vs 24.87 mg/g of dry matter in LT muscle; 15.86 vs 13.13 mg/g of dry matter in D muscle), higher oxidative metabolism (cytochrome-c oxidase; LT and D) but also higher glycolytic metabolism (lactate dehydrogenase; LT) were also observed in the coarse groups. Not all the muscles react in a similar way depending on the MGS group. Nevertheless, significant results are constant from one muscle to another, the RA being the only muscle for which the difference in hardness between the two groups is significant.
KeywordsMeat GrainTendernessMusclesCollagenBovine
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