Relationship Between Meat Quality Characteristics, Intramuscular Fat and Marbling in Greek Cattle Carcasses
Relationship Between Meat Quality Characteristics, Intramuscular Fat and Marbling in Greek Cattle Carcasses
Masouras P.K.1, Nikolaou K.1,2, Laliotis G.P.1*, Koutsouli P.1, Bizelis I.1
ABSTRACT
Marbling and intramuscular fat (IMF) although influence consumers’ preferences are not used for grading purposes of beef carcasses and meat cuts in Europe. In Greece, a variety of breeds is used for beef production, but their meat quality characteristics have not yet been evaluated. The aim of the study was to determine meat quality characteristics on samples obtained from cattle reared for meat purposes in Greece and to investigate if any correlation between these characteristics, IMF and marbling exists. Thirty steak cuts (12th thoracic rib) obtained from carcasses of both sexes of three different group of breeds (Holstein, Greek Red breed, crossbreds) were used to determine color parameters (L*, a*, b*), drip and cooking loss, tenderness and IMF. Marbling was estimated using an image analysis approach. Samples of Greek Red had higher a* value (P<0.05) compared to those obtained from crossbreds. Female samples revealed higher (P<0.05) values of L* compared to male. Significant correlations were observed between some of the determined meat quality parameters. A strong correlation (r = 0.798; P<0.01) was noted between IMF and marbling content. The regression analysis between IMF and marbling resulted in a moderate predicted ability (R2 = 0.64) of IMF based on the estimated marbling values. The findings provide novel information for meat quality of commercial cuts in Greece and offer a valuable and facile tool for predicting IMF content by marbling values, enforcing the implementation of such an approach in larger data sets.
Keywords | Marbling, Intramuscular fat, Meat quality, Carcass, Beef, Cattle breeds
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