Abstract
Meat tenderness is the most important quality attribute influencing consumer satisfaction and, therefore, meat consumption. The beef meat market in Brazil is going through transformation, and some quality traits, such as meat tenderness, begin to increase importance in the consumer choice at the time of purchase. However, even if the slaughterhouse industry applies criteria for carcass selection, in only 80 % of cases it correctly selects meat for tenderness. Consumer choice is guided by the observation of phenotypic characteristics, such as the amount of intramuscular, marbling score, and subcutaneous fats. Currently, Brazilian herds are basically composed by the Nellore breed (Bos indicus) and their crossbreeds, and it is very important to understand the influence of meat quality criteria on meat tenderness in Nellore cattle. Nellore breed animals possess a great capacity to accumulate subcutaneous fat. However, they do not have the ability to deposit marbling fat. Studies showed that the most important problem of Zebu breeds (Bos indicus) is represented by meat toughness, caused by a high activity of the calpastatin enzyme, an inhibitor of the proteolitic calpain system. The meat of zebu derived animals possess a high concentration and activity of calpastatin, which could explain the large variation of the meat tenderness of these animals. Animals subjected to intensive production systems in self-accelerated phases of the growth tend to present a higher meat tenderness. In this growth phase, muscle protein degradation is reduced, occurring with low protein turnover, and the activity of calpastatin is increased. It is observed that in all bovine breeds, some animals do not produce tender meat, even under favorable environmental conditions. In zebu breeds (Bos indicus), specifically in Nellore, the number of these animals tends to increase as they advance in age, and are slaughtered in the self-decelerating phases of growth.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Chardulo LAL (2000) Desempenho, níveis plasmáticos de hormônios, expressão e quantificação de proteínas musculares, características de carcaça e qualidade de carne de bovinos inteiros jovens de cinco diferentes grupos genéticos submetidos a confinamento. Tese. FCAV – Jaboticabal, 101 p
Culler RD, Parrish FC Jr, Smith GC, Cross HR (1978) Relationship of myofibril fragmentation index to certain chemical physical and sensory characteristics of bovine longissimus muscle. J Food Sci 43:1177
Dransfield E (1994) Modelling post-mortem tenderization v. inactivation of calpains. Meat Sci 37:391–409
Hadlich JC (2007) Características do crescimento animal, do tecido muscular esquelético e da maciez da carne de bovinos Nelore e mestiços no modelo biológico superprecoce. 2007. 90 f. Tese (Doutorado/Nutrição e Produção Animal) – Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu
Hadlich JC et al (2006) Efeito do colágeno na maciez da carne de bovinos de distintos grupos genéticos. Acta Sci Anim Sci 28(1):57–62
Killinger KM, Calkins CR, Umberger WJ et al (2004) Consumer visual preference and value for beef steaks differing in marbling level and color. J Anim Sci 82:3288–3293
Koohmaraie M (2003) The biological basis of meat tenderness and potential genetic approaches for its control and prediction. http://meats.marc.usda.gov/MRU_WWW/ICMST95/ICMST95.html. Accessed 10 Jan 2003
Koohmaraie M, Kent MP, Shackelford SD, Veiseth E, Wheeler TL (2002) Meat tenderness and muscle growth: is there any relationship? Meat Sci 62:345
Morales DC, Hadlich JC, Chardulo LAL, Silveira AC, Oliveira HN (2006) Meat tenderness evaluation of Nellore cattle. Acta Sci Anim Sci 28:52
Morgan JB, Wheeler TL, Koohmaraie M, Savell JW, Crouse JD (1993) Meat tenderness and the calpain proteolitic system in the Longissimus muscle of young bulls and steers. J Anim Sci 71:1471–1476
O’Connor SF, Tatum JD, Wulf RD et al (1997) Genetic effects on beef tenderness in Bos indicus composite and Bos taurus cattle. J Anim Sci 75:1822–1830
Rubensam JM, Felício PE, Termignoni C (1998) Influência do Genótipo Bos indicus na atividade de calpastatina e na textura da carne de novilhos abatidos no Sul do Brasil. Ciência e Tecnologia Alimentar 18(4):405–409
Savell J, Shackelford SD (1992) Significance of tenderness to the meat industry. Proc Recip Meat Conf 45:43–46
Sawdy JC, Kaiser SA, St-Pierre NR et al (2004) Myofibrillar 1-D fingerprints and myosin heavy chain MS analyses of beef loin at 36 h post mortem correlate with tenderness at 7 days. Meat Sci 67:421–426
Silveira AC, Arrigoni MDB, Martins CL, Chardulo LAL (2010) Produção de Bovinos Superprecoces no Brasil. In: Bovinocultura de Corte, vol 68. Fundação de Estudos Agrários Luiz de Queiroz – FEALQ, Piracicaba, SP, pp 1347–1364
Tait JRRG, Wilson DE, Rouse GH et al (2005) Prediction of retail product and trimmable fat yields from the four primal cuts in beef cattle using ultrasound or carcass data. J Anim Sci 83:1353–1360
Wheeler TL, Savell JW, Cross HR et al (1990) Mechanisms associated with the variation in tenderness of meat from Brahman and Hereford cattle. J Anim Sci 68:4206–4220
Wheeler TL, Cundiff LV, Koch RM et al (1994) Effect of marbling degree on beef palatability in Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle. J Anim Sci 72:3145–3151
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Silveira Consultancy (São Paulo State—Brazil) and Nutrideal (Mato Grosso State—Brazil) for providing information and pictures.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Wien
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chardulo, L.A.L., Silveira, A.C., Vianello, F. (2013). Analytical Aspects for Tropical Meat Quality Assessment. In: Lima, G., Vianello, F. (eds) Food Quality, Safety and Technology. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1640-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1640-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-1639-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-1640-1
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)