title: Influence of dental carcass maturity classification on carcass traits and tenderness of longissimus steaks from commercially fed cattle.
abstract: Two hundred beef carcasses were randomly selected by dental classification (zero, two, four, six, or eight permanent incisors) from a population of 11,136 carcasses harvested by a large commercial beef processor. Warner-Bratzler shear force and trained sensory panel evaluations of longissimus thoracis steaks as well as cooking and carcass traits were evaluated for differences among dental classes. No differences in Warner-Bratzler shear force (P = 0.60), sensory panel evaluations (P = 0.64) for tenderness, or percentage of total cooking loss (P = 0.73) were found among the five dental classes. Longissimus muscle color, USDA marbling score, hot carcass weight, adjusted fat thickness, longissimus muscle area, and USDA yield grade did not differ among the five dental classes. A significant dental classification x sex interaction indicated that heifers advanced in skeletal and overall maturity at a much faster rate than steers. An increase of intramuscular fat was associated (P < 0.05) with decreased shear force (r = -0.31), whereas darkening of the lean (r = 0.16), advancing lean maturity (r = 0.21), and increased evaporative cooking loss (r = 0.39) were associated (P < 0.05) with increased shear force values. Warner-Bratzler shear force measurements were not related to sensory panel overall tenderness scores. Carcass traits accounted for a relatively small proportion of the variation in tenderness of longissimus steaks, and dental classification was not related to tenderness.
authors.affiliation: Division of Agriculture, West Texas A&M University-Canyon 79016, USA.
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Whatley
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Perino
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dikeman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition; D002417:Cattle; D003296:Cooking; D007180:Incisor / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D011897:Random Allocation; D014481:United States; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture