THE MEASUREMENT OF SHEAR FORCE BY CORE LOCATION IN LONGISSIMUS DORSI BEEF STEAKS FROM FOUR TENDERNESS GROUPS1

Sixty-four longissimus muscle steaks obtained from carcasses of Bos indicus or Bos taurus cattle were used to evaluate shear force requirements from the dorsal to lateral portion of the steak. Steaks were assigned to one of four tenderness groups based on preliminary analysis of shear force requirements of adjacent steaks used in the study. Six dorsal to lateral core positions were incorporated into the test procedures. Shear force requirements of cores of steaks in very tender and tender groups tended (P>0.05) to decrease from the dorsal to lateral position. The increase in shear values from dorsal to lateral was dramatic (P<0.01) in the tough and very tough groups. It appears that overall shear value influences the variation in shear values within the muscle. Location effects of tenderness within the longissimus muscle could be useful in future studies of the physical/biochemical effectors of tenderness.