Sensory quality of meat from eight different types of cattle in relation with their biochemical characteristics

The present study compared eight breeds of cattle differing in gender （heifers, buls and steers） to determine associations between muscle characteristics and meat sensory qualities of theLongissimus thoracis muscle. Animal types differed in al the muscle characteristics and sensory qualities. Many correlations among muscle characteristics and among sensory qualities were consistent for most animal types. Isocitrate dehydrogenase （ICDH） activities alowed discrimination of muscles with respect to myosin heavy chain （MyHC）-I proportions for al animal types. Lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） and phos-phofructokinase （PFK） activities were positively correlated for most animal types. Overal liking was correlated with beef lfavour and abnormal lfavour in al animal types and with global tenderness for al animal types except for Charolais cross breed steers. For al animal types except for Angus×Friesian heifers, beef lfavour and abnormal lfavour were negatively correlated. Overal liking was not correlated with juiciness. PFK, ICDH and citrate synthase （CS） activities were strongly associated with tenderness, beef lfavour and overal liking when average values for al animal types were used. However, associations between muscle characteristics and sensory qualities within animal types were weak and inconsistent.