Is meat from cull cows tougher?

Tharcilla I.R.C. Alvarenga; Mario Palendeng; Suresh Thennadil; Peter McGilchrist; Linda M. Cafe; Amelia K. Almeida; David L. Hopkins

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108498

Is meat from cull cows tougher?

Tharcilla I.R.C. Alvarenga, Mario Palendeng, Suresh Thennadil, Peter McGilchrist, Linda M. Cafe, Amelia K. Almeida, David L. Hopkins

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Meat from cull cows is traditionally sold in Australia for mincemeat, but this study examined whether there is potential to add value by identifying meat of higher quality from older cattle. Dentition and ossification score were recorded for 173 Angus cattle of known age, ranging from 26 months to 12.6 years. Longissimus and semitendinosus muscles were sampled to assess the effect of chronological age on shear force and connective tissue. Age explained variation in shear force of the semitendinosus better than in the longissimus muscle, but had little effect on shear force values per se. At 2 days postmortem, 18% of the longissimus muscles were classified as tender reaching 65% as ageing extended to 14 days. Soluble collagen was a better predictor of age than total collagen. This study shows that the current practice of routinely selling meat from culled cows as mincemeat overlooks a valuable opportunity to grade and sell a significant proportion at higher price as prime cuts.

Original language	English
Article number	108498
Journal	Meat Science
Volume	177
Early online date	18 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108498
Publication status	Published - Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Meat & Livestock Australia for providing research funding (L.EQT. 1628 and L.EQT. 1905) for data collection and analysis. NSW Department of Primary Industries (Jason Siddell, Matias Suarez) and Angus Australia (Christian Duff) for providing animal background information. Edwina Toohey and Jason Siddell (NSW Department of Primary Industries) for liaising with research, farms, and meat processors. University of New England (G. Geesink, X. Han, A. van den Heuvel, M. Raue, C. Steel, G.M. Souza, E. Palmer, H. Saffuk, S. Qassim, A. Geesink, A. Cohen-Barnhouse, H. Al-Moadhen, C. Burdies), Local Land Services (M. Newsome) and NSW Department of Primary Industries (K. Austin, K. Cooley, L. Penrose, A. Donaldson, S. Fowler, D. Guimaraes, S. Woodgate, R. Woodgate, G. Santos, H. Buckley, D. Nishino) staff for assistance with beef abattoir data collection and meat analysis. Abattoirs involved for collaboratively allowing staff and infrastructure use to undertake the collection of the muscles. Robert Brown for revision/editing of initial drafts of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Access to Document

10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108498

Cite this

@article{8112a0734c004096979541e9f6b524c9,

title = "Is meat from cull cows tougher?",

abstract = "Meat from cull cows is traditionally sold in Australia for mincemeat, but this study examined whether there is potential to add value by identifying meat of higher quality from older cattle. Dentition and ossification score were recorded for 173 Angus cattle of known age, ranging from 26 months to 12.6 years. Longissimus and semitendinosus muscles were sampled to assess the effect of chronological age on shear force and connective tissue. Age explained variation in shear force of the semitendinosus better than in the longissimus muscle, but had little effect on shear force values per se. At 2 days postmortem, 18% of the longissimus muscles were classified as tender reaching 65% as ageing extended to 14 days. Soluble collagen was a better predictor of age than total collagen. This study shows that the current practice of routinely selling meat from culled cows as mincemeat overlooks a valuable opportunity to grade and sell a significant proportion at higher price as prime cuts.",

keywords = "Age, Beef cattle, Connective tissue, Dentition, Ossification, Tenderness",

author = "Alvarenga, {Tharcilla I.R.C.} and Mario Palendeng and Suresh Thennadil and Peter McGilchrist and Cafe, {Linda M.} and Almeida, {Amelia K.} and Hopkins, {David L.}",

note = "Funding Information: Meat & Livestock Australia for providing research funding (L.EQT. 1628 and L.EQT. 1905) for data collection and analysis. NSW Department of Primary Industries (Jason Siddell, Matias Suarez) and Angus Australia (Christian Duff) for providing animal background information. Edwina Toohey and Jason Siddell (NSW Department of Primary Industries) for liaising with research, farms, and meat processors. University of New England (G. Geesink, X. Han, A. van den Heuvel, M. Raue, C. Steel, G.M. Souza, E. Palmer, H. Saffuk, S. Qassim, A. Geesink, A. Cohen-Barnhouse, H. Al-Moadhen, C. Burdies), Local Land Services (M. Newsome) and NSW Department of Primary Industries (K. Austin, K. Cooley, L. Penrose, A. Donaldson, S. Fowler, D. Guimaraes, S. Woodgate, R. Woodgate, G. Santos, H. Buckley, D. Nishino) staff for assistance with beef abattoir data collection and meat analysis. Abattoirs involved for collaboratively allowing staff and infrastructure use to undertake the collection of the muscles. Robert Brown for revision/editing of initial drafts of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108498",

language = "English",

volume = "177",

journal = "Meat Science",