Theses and Dissertations Collection

Our objective was to determine the relationship between heifer carcass maturity and beef quality characteristics of the longissimus lumborum (LM) and biceps femoris (BF) of heifer carcasses under 30 months of age verified by dentition. In LM and BF steaks, TBARS values interacted with day of retail display, in which B maturity steaks had lower levels of lipid oxidation versus A and C maturity steaks by the fourth day of retail display (P <0.01). Though, LM steaks from B maturity carcasses tended to have worse overall acceptability (P = 0.08) and juiciness (P = 0.09) than steaks from C maturity carcasses. C maturity LM steaks had higher levels of 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, pentanal, and toluene versus steaks from A and B maturity carcasses (P < 0.02). In conclusion, our results indicate that advanced physiological maturity does not decrease palatability of carcasses from cattle under 30 months of age.