Muscle-specific color stability in fresh beef from grain-finished Bos indicus cattle.

Objective: To investigate the impact of muscle source on color and oxidative stabilities of beef LL and PM muscles from grain-fed Bos indicus cattle in Brazil.

Methods: The Longissimus lumborum (LL) and psoas major (PM) muscles were obtained 24 h post-mortem from eight (n = 8) Nellore bull carcasses, fabricated into 1.5-cm steaks, aerobically packaged, and stored at 4°C for nine days. Steaks were analyzed for myoglobin concentration, pH, instrumental color, metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA) and lipid oxidation.

Results: LL steaks exhibited greater (p < 0.05) redness, color stability, and MRA than their PM counterparts on days 5 and 9. LL and PM steaks demonstrated similar (p > 0.05) lightness and yellowness on days 0, 5 and 9. On the other hand, PM steaks exhibited greater (p < 0.05) myoglobin concentration, pH, and lipid oxidation than their LL counterparts.

Conclusion: These results indicated that muscle source influenced the color and oxidative stabilities of beef from grain-fed Bos indicus animals. These results highlighted the necessity of muscle-specific strategies to improve the color stability of beef from grain-fed Bos indicus cattle.