The effect of breed, sex and aging time on tenderness of beef meat

Our study was conducted to determine the effect of production factors (breed, sex) and aging time on the textural properties of beef using instrumental measurement of tenderness. Meat was obtained from Galloway, Simmental, Charolais, Czech Fleckvieh breeds and their crossbreeds. Meat was either unaged or aged for 14, 28 or 42 days. The tenderness was characterized by Warner-Bratzler test and compression test using Tira-test device. The cooking loss of meat juice was also evaluated. Analysis of variance at 5% significance level showed that tenderness was influenced by all tested factors (breed, sex, aging time). The shear force decreased with aging of meat. The correlation between shear force and compression test was 0.257 (p <= 0.001). The differences in tenderness were found among breeds. The highest initial shear force was measured in Simmental (151.98 N). Compression test showed better tenderness in Czech Fleckvieh and Galloway than in Simmental, Charolais and crossbreeds. Meat from bulls was significantly (p <= 0.001) less tender than from heifers. There was a significant (p <= 0.001) increase of cooking loss of meat juice during aging from 25.3% after slaughter to 34.0% after aging period. The research results could be useful for determination whether specific cattle breeds can produce tender meat with good aging patterns. According to findings of the current study it is especially necessary to emphasize that factor of aging time exceeded the influence of breed and sex on tenderness. The study also suggests extending of aging period to 6 week to assure tenderness of beef.