Calcium chloride concentration, injection time, and aging period effects of tenderness, sensory, and retail color attributes of loin steaks from mature cows

Calcium chloride (CaCl2) injection effects on retail color changes and sensory traits of loin steaks from mature cows were studied. Left side strip loins (SL) of 10 carcasses were divided into three portions within 0.5 h postmortem. One was a control, and the other portions were injected with either 150 mM or 200 mM CaCl2. At 24 h postmortem, the chilled, right side SL was removed and the same treatments applied. Steaks from each treatment were evaluated for color changes during 5 d of retail display. Treatments were also divided into 7-d or 14-d aging periods. Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) values and sensory evaluations of juiciness, tenderness, flavor intensity, flavor description, and overall palatability were obtained on all treatments. Concentration of CaCl2 had no effect on measures of color. However, injection at 24 h reduced colorimeter L values and visual color scores on d 1 and 2 of retail display and increased discoloration scores on d 3 (P 0.05) compared with injection at 0.5 h. All steaks had greater than 40% discoloration when measured beyond d 3. Steaks aged 14 d exhibited significantly lower WBS values than steaks aged 7 d (P 0.05). Injections of CaCl2 increased scores for juiciness, tenderness, and overall palatability, and aging improved tenderness, flavor intensity, flavor description, and overall palatability (P 0.05). Cuts injected at 24 h had 8.3% and 8.8% higher yields than cuts injected at 0.5 h or controls, respectively (P 0.05). An interaction between CaCl2 injection and 14-d aging increased juiciness scores (P 0.05). Results indicate that CaCl2 injections can be used with aging to increase the palatability of mature cow loin steaks without reducing shelf-life, as measured by color traits. Injection at 24 h postmortem can increase product yield