Effects of aging method on meat quality, troponin T degradation, collagen solubility, fatty acids, ribonucleotides and free amino acids in Wagyu Sahiwal crossbred beef loin
摘要
The study investigated the effects of dry and wet aging for 38 days on the meat quality of Longissimus lumborum (LL) muscles from 50% Wagyu × 50% Sahiwal (WSF1) crossbred steers. LL muscles were obtained from four crossbred steers at 24 h postmortem, cut into two sections, and randomly assigned to either dry aging (no packaging in a walk-in cold room at 1.5 ± 1 °C, 70% RH) or wet aging (vacuum-packed in low-density polyethylene K-nylon bags and stored in the same conditions) for 38 days. Dry-aged LL had significantly higher weight loss but lower cooking loss compared to wet-aged LL (P < 0.05). Aging methods did not affect pH, color, shear force, collagen and troponin T degradation (P > 0.05). Dry-aged LL had lower polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than wet-aged LL (P < 0.05). Wet-aged LL exhibited higher inosine 5’-monophosphate (IMP) and guanosine 5’-monophosphate (GMP) levels than dry-aged LL (P < 0.05). No differences were observed in free amino acid content between aging methods (P > 0.05). Wet aging reduced weight loss (2.88% vs. 11.86%) and increased PUFA (3.58% vs. 2.75%), IMP (50.37 vs. 20.04 mg/100 g), and GMP (3.70 vs. 1.82 mg/100 g) compared to dry aging, highlighting the impact of aging on WSF1 beef loin quality.