The quality of beef, defined by key attributes such as the intrinsic sensory qualities texture, flavour, and juiciness, is shaped by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This study conducted a ...detailed examination of Nellore beef, focusing on two categories based on ultimate pH (pHu) levels: intermediate (pHu ≥ 5.8) and normal (pHu < 5.6) beef. A comprehensive approach was taken, involving twenty trained assessors who applied the Optimised Descriptive Profile (ODP) method to evaluate grilled striploin steak samples. In parallel, consumer preferences were measured through a hedonic test and a Check-all-that-apply (CATA) task, involving 135 participants. The ODP results revealed that the intermediate pHu samples were juicier (P < 0.05) compared to the normal pHu group. The CATA analysis highlighted differences in both intermediate and normal pHu beef, especially in juiciness, a crucial factor for consumer satisfaction. Notably, variations in deoxymyoglobin content linked to ageing were observed, with higher levels at the 3
day compared to the 28
day, especially in the intermediate pHu samples (P < 0.05). Moreover, colour-related aspects such as L*, b*, chroma (C*), and oxymyoglobin were significantly influenced (P < 0.05) by both the pHu category and ageing time. Regarding consumer acceptance, the study found no significant difference in perception between the intermediate and normal pHu groups (P > 0.05). These findings revealed the complex interactions between pHu levels, sensory characteristics, and consumer preferences in beef quality, offering valuable insights for both the industry and research community.
ABSTRACT The aim o f this study was to carry out a comparative evaluation of the effect of adding different sources of PUFAS to the diet on performance, carcass yield, chemical composition, and the ...physical characteristics of breast meat from European quail. A tot al of 280 European quail with a mean weight of 90.97 ± 0.5 g, during the growth period and ranging from 14 to 42 days of age, were distributed in a completely randomised design with seven treatments, and five replications of eight birds each. The quail were fed on diets containing 2% of the following lipid sources and mixtures: 1. Soybean oil (SBO); 2. Linseed oil (LSO); 3. Brazil Nut Oil (BNO); 4. Fish oil (FSO); 5. LSO+SBO; 6. BNO+SBO; and 7. FSO+SBO. Performance measures, such as carcass yield and meat quality (chemical composition, pH, centrifugation loss, weight loss by cooking, shear strength and colour) were evaluated. The performance measures (weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion) were influenced by the source of lipids. The FSO diet showed better performance. Quails fed on the BNO (18.27 g/bird/day) and LSO (17.58 g/bird/day) diets had a higher feed intake. Carcass yield and the chemical composition of the meat showed no significant differences (P > 0.05), while the chemical and physical characteristics showed differences between the lipid sources added to the diet. The addition of sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids caused no harmful effects to the birds or undesirable changes in meat quality.
Despite the relatively high occurrence of bovine meat with intermediate to high ultimate pH (pHu), there is a lack of studies focused on the effects of long-term conventional air-blasting freezing ...storage on quality parameters of commercial beefs of Zebu Nellore (Bos indicus) with varying pHu ranges. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of pHu ranges normal (≤5.79), intermediate (5.80 to 6.19), and high (≥6.20) and long-term frozen storage on quality parameters of aged Longissimus dorsi beefs of Zebu Nellore (Bos indicus). The aging conditions were set at 2 °C for 14 days, while the freezing conditions were set at - 20 °C, and samples were collected after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of storage. The results indicated that the pHu influenced meat quality parameters, as well as the chemical forms of myoglobin, which changed throughout the frozen storage, leading to a brighter red color, especially for the normal pHu beef samples, likely due to increased oxymyoglobin content. Frozen storage improved tenderness, with high pHu beef samples being the more tender after 12 months, potentially due to lower protein oxidation, as measured by the carbonyl content. Increased drip loss was observed over freezing time, with a concomitant decrease in protein solubility, especially for myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins, which differed among the pHu ranges. These findings are valuable for determining freezing time as a preservation strategy to maintain beef quality within different pHu ranges.
