Relationships between the assessment of “grain of meat” and meat tenderness of Charolais cattle

Metabolic Properties of Fibers and Connective Tissue of Four Muscles from Bovine Carcasses

“…The lower collagen content in M. longissimus thoracis of the fine group confirms the scores given by the experts when evaluating the lack of visible nerves on this muscle (p = 0.005; Table 2). Indeed, as previously indicated [11], the presence of nerves may be related to connective tissue content (correlation: −0.21) and collagen solubility (correlation: −0.36). Moreover, this result could be linked to the conclusions of experts concerning the fine samples of M. longissimus thoracis which were found to be smoother and softer, with less hardness than those of the coarse group (p < 0.0001; Table 2).…”

“…In this way, some of the markers among those identified in the ethnological study were formalized and integrated into a scale ( Table 1) and associated with a written and/or a photographic definition. The finest grain was obtained in the well-shaped and well-balanced carcass, with a really round thigh, large muscle thickness, limited marbling, a M. longissimus thoracis without nerves and smooth and soft to the touch, in accordance with a statistical analysis of data [10] [11]. According to the operators of the French Charolais beef industry, four muscles can provide information about the meat grain size of a carcass: M. longissimus thoracis, rectus abdominis, longus colli and diaphragma [11].…”

“…The finest grain was obtained in the well-shaped and well-balanced carcass, with a really round thigh, large muscle thickness, limited marbling, a M. longissimus thoracis without nerves and smooth and soft to the touch, in accordance with a statistical analysis of data [10] [11]. According to the operators of the French Charolais beef industry, four muscles can provide information about the meat grain size of a carcass: M. longissimus thoracis, rectus abdominis, longus colli and diaphragma [11]. The M. longissimus thoracis for which numerous results are available is often considered to be a reference.…”

“…Therefore, both M. diaphragma and longissimus thoracis could be used to predict the "grain of meat" score: low collagen content being indicators of fine grain of meat. Nevertheless, previous results indicated that for the M. longissimus thoracis, no significant relationship exists between grain of meat and either tenderness or shear force, or collagen content and collagen solubility [11]. According to Purslow [6], it appears that tenderness is partly correlated with fine grain (small diameters of muscle fascicle), but as is so common in meat science, this single variable is of extremely limited value in predicting the toughness of cooked meat, due to the highly multifactorial nature of texture.…”

“…For each criterion, the score of 5 was attributed to the modality most favourable to the "grain of meat" according to the experts ( Table 1). It had previously been confirmed that scores given for each of the 15 criteria were in line with the global score given to "grain of meat" and that the touch evaluation of each of the 4 muscles was equivalent for a given carcass [10] [11]. To select the 10 carcasses with extreme grain of meat scores, a total of 60 heifer carcasses were scored by 4 experts familiar with "grain of meat" evaluation at the commercial slaughterhouse "Charollais Viande" located in Paray-Le-Monial (France).…”