Meat Tenderness Characteristics of Ten Major Muscles from Hanwoo Steers according to Quality Grades of Carcasses

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of quality grade (QG) on meat tenderness characteristics of ten major muscles from Hanwoo steers. A total of 25 Hanwoo carcasses (5 carcasses × 5 QGs) were selected. Intramuscular fat content, collagen content, sarcomere length, and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) of Longissimus thoracis (LT), Longissimus lumborum (LL), Psoas major (PM), Semisponals (SS), Triceps brachii (TB), Semimembranosus (SM), Gluteus medius (GM), Rectus Abdominis (RA), Superficialis flexor (SF), and Internal and external intercostal (IC) were determined. IC had the highest fat content, followed by LT, RA, LL, PM, GM, SS, SF, TB, and SM. High-fat muscles such as LT, LL, IC, RA, and PM had significantly (p<0.05) different fat contents among QGs. Collagen contents were significantly (p<0.05) different among QGs. With decreasing QG, increasing collagen content was found in muscles. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in sarcomere length among QGs of several muscles. However, no significant (p>0.05) difference in sarcomere length was found among QGs for LL, PM, or RA muscle. PM had the lowest WBSF, followed by LL, LT, RA, IC, GM, SM, SF, SS, and TB. WBSF of QG 1++ was lower than that of QG 1 for SS, TB, and SM. All muscles of QG 1 showed lower WBSF than QG 3 except TB or IC. Results of this study suggested that differences in WBSF among these 10 muscles by QG were due to differences in collagen content and sarcomere length.