title: Pre-rigor temperature control of Chinese yellow cattle carcasses to 12-18 °C during chilling improves beef tenderness.
abstract: This study evaluates the effects of pre-rigor temperature control on quality traits of Chinese yellow cattle M. longissimus lumborum (LL). One stepwise chilling (SC) treatment was used on one half-carcass, involved a fast chilling (-11 ± 1 °C;0.5 m/s) for 2h, then the refrigeration was stopped to hold a core temperature of 12-18 °C until 10h postmortem, followed by a 1 ± 1 °C chilling (0.5 m/s) to 48h postmortem. The other half-carcass was conventional chilled at 1 ± 1 °C (0.5 m/s) until 48h as control chilling (CC). Quality attributes were evaluated at 1, 7 and 14 days. The SC treatment resulted in decreased WBSF and increased myofibril fragmentation index compared with control. SC-treated LL at 7d postmortem had a lower WBSF than those of CC-treated at 14d. This pre-rigor temperature controlled chilling is a realistic alternative for the beef industry in China to ensure adequate tenderness and shorten aging time.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Rongrong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Renhuan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lixian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xianyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002681:China; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D009210:Myofibrils; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012034:Refrigeration / Q000379:methods*; D012298:Rigor Mortis; D013314:Stress, Mechanical