title: Eating quality prediction of beef from Italian Simmental cattle based on experts' steak assessment.
abstract: The experiment aimed at defining a grading scheme for Italian Simmental (IS) beef linked to objective measure of eating quality. Four experts developed a meat quality grid based on the assessment of the steak between the 8th and 9th ribs (reference steak). The grid was tested on the reference steak of 29 IS young-bulls. Rib-eye dimension, meat colour, marbling, meat firmness and fat cover highly contributed to overall quality. Two classes of IS beef quality were identified: standard and high. The results were associated with the sensory profile of Longissimus thoracis muscle from the reference steaks performed by a trained panel. The differences in quality highlighted by experts in raw steak accounted for most of the relevant information regarding the sensory properties of cooked beef. The accuracy of predictive model was 96.6%. The developed scheme is a helpful tool for valuing the eating quality of beef.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via Sondrio, 2/A, 33100 Udine, Italy. Electronic address: monica.borgogno@uniud.it.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borgogno
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via Sondrio, 2/A, 33100 Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saccà
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via Sondrio, 2/A, 33100 Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corazzin
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via Sondrio, 2/A, 33100 Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Saida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Favotto
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via Sondrio, 2/A, 33100 Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bovolenta
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via Sondrio, 2/A, 33100 Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Edi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Piasentier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003116:Color; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003296:Cooking; D005260:Female; D063427:Food Quality; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D000069466:Red Meat / Q000592:standards*; D013649:Taste
keywords: Beef; Expert evaluation; Grading system; PLS-DA; Sensory profile