Commercial meat cuts hardness of dual-purpose cattle from Cundinamarca (Colombia) high tropics zone

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of biotype, slaughter age, sexual condition and feeding  femoris), Muchacho (Semitendinosus) and Paletero (Infraspinatus), from 50 bovines belonging to dual-purpose systems of the high tropics in Cundinamarca, Colombia. To obtain the values of this attribute, the Warner-Bratzler blade cutting force (FWB) instrumental measurement methods and sensory evaluation were used, with 71% of correlation. This allowed the elaboration of a hardness scale in which the Lomo and Paletero meat cuts were in the category of “soft” and behaved statistically the same in both measurement methods, while Bota and Muchacho meat cuts were in the category of “medium” and had statistical differences according to the sensory panel perception. Likewise, the results showed significant differences between the meat cuts, highlighting Paletero due to lower hardness value and behavior similar to the Lomo meat cut. Significant effects on the meat toughness were found for all factors, except age, which shows the influence that these and their farm management have on the quality of the meat.