Effect of sex and animal type on tenderness and juiciness of beef from cattle with eight permanent incisors in Puerto Rico

Abstract

The effects of sex (female or intact male) and animal type (beef, BT; or dairy, DT) on meat quality attributes of the Longissimus lumborum muscle were evaluated in 89 commercially sourced bovines in Puerto Rico, all having eight permanent incisors (>53 months of age). Mean meat pH was greater (P<0.0001) for BT than for DT (5.75 vs. 5.40), with males of BT and DT having the highest and lowest values, respectively (5.99 vs. 5.32), resulting in a sex x type interaction (P=0.0003). Regarding color parameters, female BT and male DT had lower L* values (darker meat), constituting another sex x type interaction (P<0.0001). Males showed greater a* and b* values than females (more red and yellow colored meat; P<0.05). Females surpassed males (P<0.0001) in intramuscular fat content (9.13 vs. 3.06%) and DT showed a non-significant advantage over BT (8.90 vs. 5.87%). Higher pH was associated with greater water retention (P<0.0001). Warner-Bratzler Shear (WBS) and tenderness scores assigned by untrained sensory panelists indicated non-significant tendencies in favor of females (WBS: 6.13 vs. 7.20 kg), and in favor of BT over DT within males (WBS: 6.69 vs. 7.71 kg). The sensory panel assigned higher juiciness scores to beef from males than females (4.85 vs. 4.16 on a scale from 1 to 8; P=0.0074).