Combining two proven mechanical tenderness measurements in one steak

Color attributes and myoglobin chemistry exhibit relationships with tenderness and calpain-1 abundance in postmortem Longissimus lumborum muscles from Holstein heifers

The objective of this study was to determine the extent that myoglobin and beef color are associated with calpain-1 relative abundance relative and tenderness. Longissimus lumborum (LL) samples from the left side of Holstein beef carcasses (n = 31) were collected immediately post-evisceration for 0 h analyses. At 48 h postmortem six steaks were removed from the right side of each carcass for analyses at 48 and 336 h postmortem. Myoglobin concentrations resulted in negative correlations (P < 0.05) to Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values at 336 h postmortem. L*, a*, and b* values at 48 h resulted in positive correlations (P < 0.05) with WBSF values at 48 and 336 h. Values for b* at 336 h had positive correlations with calpain-1 concentration at 0 and 336 h. Data from this study indicate a potential relationship between myoglobin concentration and meat color with tenderness aspects and calpain-1 relative abundance.

Comparative Study on the Effects of Boiling, Steaming, Grilling, Microwaving and Superheated Steaming on Quality Characteristics of Marinated Chicken Steak

The effects of five different cooking methods (boiling, steaming, grilling, microwaving, and superheated steaming) on proximate composition, pH, color, cooking loss, textural properties, and sensory characteristics of chicken steak were studied. Moisture content and lightness value (L*-value) were higher in superheated steam cooked chicken steak than that of the other cooking treatments such as boiling, steaming, grilling and microwaving cooking (p<0.05), whereas protein content, redness value (a*-value), hardness, gumminess, and chewiness of superheated steam cooked chicken steak was lower than that in the other cooking treatments (p<0.05). Fat content and ash content, springiness, and cohesiveness were not significantly different among the chicken steak cooked using various methods (p>0.05). Among the sensory characteristics, tenderness score, juiciness score and overall acceptability score were the highest for the superheated steam samples (p<0.05), whereas no difference in flavor scores were observed among the other treatments (p>0.05). These results show that marinated chicken steak treated with superheated steam in a preheated 250℃ oven and 380℃ steam for 5 min until core temperature reached 75℃ improved the quality characteristics and sensory properties the best. Therefore, superheated steam was useful to improve cooked chicken steak.