title: Sensory evaluation and its relationship to physical meat quality attributes of beef from Nguni and Bonsmara steers raised on natural pasture.
abstract: The current study compared sensory characteristics and their relationships with physical meat characteristics of beef from Nguni and Bonsmara steers. Nguni beef was more (P < 0.05) tender than Bonsmara beef after ageing for 2 and 21 days, and had higher (P < 0.05) intramuscular fat (IMF; 1.12%) than Bonsmara beef (1.07%). Nguni beef had higher (P < 0.05) sensory scores than Bonsmara beef after ageing for 2 days. There were no (P > 0.05) relationships between IMF and sensory characteristics. Aroma intensity, impression on juiciness and tenderness-related scores were affected (P < 0.05) by pH. There were significant (P < 0.05) correlations between most physical meat characteristics and sensory characteristics. Nguni beef had better sensory scores than Bonsmara beef for beef aged for 2 days. While most physical meat characteristics were correlated to sensory scores, all sensory scores were not significantly correlated to IMF.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Livestock and Pasture Science, University of Fort Hare, P. Bag X1314, Alice 5700, Republic of South Africa.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Muchenje
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dzama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chimonyo
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Strydom
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hugo
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Raats