Predicting beef quality at the early post-mortem period

摘要: One of the greatest challenges to the meat industry, in the present time, is the ability to predict and guarantee the quality of their final product. Many biochemical factors and physical measurements demonstrate powerful predictive ability in the early post-mortem period. Some of these have previously been recorded while others involve both assessment of novel meat components and the application of new and existing technological methods. Proteolytic degradation of myofibrillar proteins is being investigated and several components which may contain predictive information of meat quality are currently being employed in the development of immunoassays. It is hoped that this will lead to the production of a rapid detection kit for use in the factory. The ability NIR spectra to differentiate between tough and tender meat has been demonstrated. NMR has been effective in revealing a redistribution of water over the ageing process. Ultrasound, autofluoresence spectroscopy and image analysis are being investigated for prediction of both compositional and textural features of meat. Rigometry and early post-mortem measurements of pH, conductivity, impedance, Warner Bratzler shear force and colour are also under investigation as for their predictive potential. Many of these measurements show much promise as early post-mortem indicators of meat quality. Analysis is continuing to determine the practical usefulness of these indicators in an industrial situation.