Palatability Assessments of Beef Top Loin Steaks Sourced from Three Quality Grade/Brand Categories from Texas and Non-Texas Processing Establishments
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Beef top loin steaks from Top Choice (Modest and Moderate marbling), Choice (primarily Small marbling), and Select (Slight marbling) beef strip loins from Texas and Non-Texas (Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado) beef processing establishments were obtained to determine the role of source and USDA grade/brand category on consumer sensory panel and Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) evaluations. The number of strip loins obtained were 58 Texas Top Choice, 54 Texas Choice, and 56 Texas Select and 60 Non-Texas Top Choice, 52 Non-Texas Choice, and 58 Non-Texas Select. There were source USDA grade/brand category interactions for overall liking (P = 0.012) and tenderness liking (P = 0.002) in which the Texas Top Choice steaks received ratings that did not differ (P < 0.05) from Texas Select steaks but did differ (P > 0.05) from the Non-Texas Top Choice steaks. There were no (P = 0.079) differences in WBS values for steaks from the 2 sources even though the P value approached significance. For USDA quality grade/brand category, there were differences (P > 0.001) in WBS values, but not in the direction one might expect: Choice steaks had the lowest (P > 0.05) WBS values compared with those from Top Choice and Select steaks, which did not differ (P < 0.05) from each other. Percentage dis- tribution of WBS values according to tenderness categories showed that all of the Top Choice and Choice steaks, regardless of source, had values that met the threshold values for Very Tender (WBS > 31.4 N) or Tender (31.4 N > WBS > 38.3 N). While geographic purchasing biases may remain, these data assist in supporting informed decisions regarding palatability and consumer acceptability as functions of beef sourcing.
