Meat colour is a major influence on the willingness to purchase beef.

The composition of an animal’s diet may influence the flavour, juiciness and tenderness of beef.

Meat from animals fed only grass or grass products over their lifetime is often described as having a distinctive taste.

If a change in diet negatively affectscolour, sensory characteristics or pH, it may have negative economic consequences for the industry.

Animals: Spring-born Angus heifers; n=15 / treatment.

Diets:

  1. Grass silage only during the winter followed by grazed grass (GSO).
  2. Grass silage + 2kg/day concentrates during the winter, followed by grazed grass and then grass silage plus 0.45 dietary intake of concentrates (GSC).
  3. Grass silage + 2kg/day concentrates during the winter, followed by grazed grass and then grass silage plus 0.45 dietary intake of concentrates. supplemented with ruminally protected linseed oil (GSC-PUFA).
  4. Concentrates ad libitium(CON).

Slaughter: To a target carcass weight of 260 kg.

Measurements:Muscle colour (L*a*b*, saturation and hue after 1hr. bloom), pH and sensory characteristics(using a trained panel).

Fig.1: Sensory characteristics

Muscle colour and pH

Fig. 2: Muscle colour and pH

Muscle from CON was brighter (P<0.05) than muscle from the other treatments.

Muscle from GSO was more tender (P<0.05) and had a higher vegetable / grass flavour (P<0.05) than muscle from GSC but was similar to the other treatments.

Muscle fromGSC-PUFA had higher (P<0.05) pH (5.68) than muscle from the other treatments (5.56 – 5.59).

It is unlikely that relatively small differences in colour, pH and sensory characteristics detected in muscles in this study are relevant to the consumer.

This project (11/SF/322, “BullBeef”) was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s competitive research programmes.

This project (13/F/514, “GrassBeef”) was funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s competitive research programmes.