The effect of aging on the quality of Semimembranosus muscle from Hanwoo

Abstract

The effect of postmortem aging on the quality of Semimembranosus muscle (SM) from Hanwoo was investigated. The quality of SM was compared with that of Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD). SM contained higher moisture, protein, and ash, and lower fat than LD (p<0.05). The a* and b* values of SM were significantly decreased after 21 days of aging. SM showed higher a* values than LD at 1 and 7 day of aging (p<0.05). The cooking loss of SM was not affect by aging. SM had higher cooking loss than that of LD throughout the aging period. Although the shear force of SM was significantly decreased by aging, SM showed high shear force compared to LD during aging period (p<0.05). Aging increased lipid oxidation in both muscles (p<0.05). However, TBARS value of SM was significantly lower than that of LD throughout the aging period (p<0.05). There was no effect of aging on the betaine and L-carnitine contents of SM. SM contained higher betaine and L-carnitine than LD in all aging days (p<0.05). Therefore, we concluded that consumer acceptability of SM could be increased by aging based on the increase of tenderness in addition to its high nutritional properties.