Ageing, physical and chemical methods for improving tenderness and palatability of beef

Abstract

The biochemical understanding of tenderization has helped in the design of more targeted approaches to improve beef tenderness through the utilization of specific enzymes. There has also been development of technologies such as SmartStretch™ and the Pi-Vac Elasto-Pack System®, which offer industry scope to improve the tenderness of specific muscles, and there is scope to combine technologies as these techniques have the potential to reduce the time required to age beef to reach acceptability thresholds. Other technologies such as pulse electric field and high-pressure processing may have specific application in the future, but scaling up the technology is a significant challenge. To meet consumer demands, grading systems that go to the cut and even muscle level are required so that the inherent variation within and between carcasses can be accounted for and value maximized.