SHORT COMMUNICATION: Influence of some meat quality parameters on beef tenderness

Steaks from longissimus lumborum and semimembranosus muscles, aged 2 or 27 d, were obtained from a population of steers (n = 112) managed to produce a range in tenderness (shear force range from 2.57 to 17.2 kg). All available carcass (live weight, hot commercial weight, pH, temperature, marbling, rib-eye area) and meat (objective colour, cook loss, cook time, Warner-Bratzler shear force, myoglobin content, proximate composition and collagen content) quality data were used for the analyses. Multivariate analyses determined which factors influenced tenderness between and within muscles, both before or after ageing. In unaged muscles, soluble collagen explained differences in tenderness among muscles, while factors related to the myofibrillar component explained differences within a muscle. In contrast, in aged muscles, total collagen content was related to tenderness among muscles and the percent soluble collagen content was related to tenderness differences within a muscle.