Instrumental and sensory evaluation to assess the quality of beef meat in relation to country of origin

This study aimed to characterize beef meat from different European countries implementing different farming and feeding systems. Quality attributes were evaluated using both sensory and instrumental methods on a total of 184 meat samples (Longissimus thoracis et lumborum - LTL, 9th rib, weighing approximately 200 grams) which were collected from 5 Countries: IT (n=28; indoor system with high feed input, from Italy), ES (n=18; indoor system with high input feed, from Spain), CH (n=71; indoor system with medium input feed or grass-based system with low input feed, from Switzerland), UK (n=31; grass-based system with high input feed, from the United Kingdom), and FR (n=36; indoor system with medium input feed or grass-based system with high input feed, from France). Samples were used for assessing color (L*a*b*; n=5 replicates/sample), shear force on both raw and cooked samples (Warner Bratzler shear test; n=5 replicates/sample) and lipid oxidation (TBARS). As for sensory evaluation, 72 beef samples were then selected for the consumer test (120 assessors). Each taster evaluated seven samples, assessing tenderness and juiciness intensity on verbal scales, along with olfactory, gustatory, and overall liking. The evaluation concluded with a brief section gathering sociodemographic and personal data. Instrumental data were analyzed using One-way ANOVA by testing the effect of Country of origin. When significant, means were separated by Tukey-HSD test (p<0.05). Statistical analyses of the results collected from sensory tests is currently ongoing. As for color, significant differences were observed for lightness (p<0.001) and redness (p=0.022). Indeed, samples from CH (L*=39.6) and ES (L*=38.5) were lighter if compared with other groups. In addition, samples belonging to UK showed the highest (p<0.05) redness. As for shear force, the samples from UK exhibited higher tenderness (p<0.001) both raw and after cooking. With regard to lipid oxidation, CH samples showed the highest (p<0.001) TBARS. Overall, the abovementioned differences may be explained considering that the farming system adopted in each Country may have resulted in peculiarities in the quality traits of the forthcoming meat. In addition, to provide a more comprehensive characterization of the meat, these results will be combined with those of the sensory evaluation. Research supported by EU H2020 “INTAQT - INnovative Tools for Assessment and Authentication of chicken meat, beef and dairy products’ QualiTies” (Grant. n. 101000250).