A within-animal examination of postmortem ageing for up to 21 d on tenderness in the bovine longissimus thoracis and semimembranosus muscles

Abstract

The present research shows an interesting example of ageing up to 21 d having a differential effect on tenderness in the longissimus thoracis (LT) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles. When compared to 1 d postmortem, Warner - Bratzler shear (WBS) progressively decreased over time postmortem in the LT (12.05 kg at 1 d vs. 8.08 kg at 6 d, 6.95 kg at 14 d, and 5.52 kg at 21 d) but not in the SM (9.81 kg at 1 d vs. 8.19 kg at 6d, 8.43 kg at 14 d, and 9.30 kg at 21 d). Introduction of muscle-specific ageing times in industry could reduce tenderness variation and reduce refrigeration costs. Key words: Beef, ageing, tenderness, longissimus thoracis, semimembranosus