Meat Quality of Highly Marbled Imported Beef with Reference to Hanwoo Beef

摘要

This study was conducted to assess objective and subjective meat quality traits for imported chilled beef with a high degree of marbling in longissimus muscle with reference to Hanwoo beef. Muscle samples of four Wagyu, four Angus, four Hanwoo grade1, and three Hanwoo grade 3 were purchased from a commercial beef market. The meats had intramuscular fat content of approximately 22, 8, 13 and 4%, and aged for 31, 71, 14 and 14 days, respectively. Imported beef showed a significantly(P < 0.05) lowerWB-shear force than Hanwoo. However, the instrument measurement did not reflect sensory tenderness and juiciness, which were similar between the four groups. On the other hand, Hanwoo beef showed significantly(P < 0.05) favorable flavor intensity. This waslikely an indication of more a desirable eating quality for Hanwoo beef, regardless of the level of intramuscular fat content. Discriminant functions of C18 : 0, C18 : 1n-7, CIS : 1n-9, C20 : 3n-6, C20 : 4n-6 and total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids classified the domestic and foreign beef products at 100%, despite a noticeable difference between two groups existed only in C18 : 0. Principle component analysis indicated that subjective flavor intensity was negatively related to C18 : 0 and C18 : 1n-7.The result indicated that C18 : 0 could be a possible candidate fatty acid for difference in flavor intensity between two beef groups. The current study demonstrated that the domestic product was more acceptable for Korean consumers. However, it was notidentified whether the result was associated with breed, feeding regime, or ageing time. Further studies are required for breed specification in terms of sensory characteristics and consumer preference.