Packing plant differences in meat quality for grain-fed veal.

摘要

Packing plant differences in meat quality were investigated in grain-fed veal from three commercial packing plants and a university research facility. Postmortem chilling rates were investigated in three plants including facilities which encased carcass sides in a polyliner bag intended to reduce shrinkage during chilling. Packing plant differences (P = 0.01) in chilling rates were not always accompanied by plant differences in sarcomere length for longissimus or semitendinosus muscles. Drip and cooking losses and shear force for longissimus varied (P = 0.04) across packing plants with lower (P = 0.02) values found in veal slaughtered at the university research facility vs. veal from commercial packing plants. A packing plant by postmortem ageing interaction (P < 0.05) for shear force was due to differences in extent of postmortem tenderization with ageing across packing plants. While use of a polyliner to encase the carcass during chilling decreased (P < 0.001) rate of chilling and carcass shrinkage, there was no effect (P > 0.20) on drip loss, shear force, or cooking losses vs. carcasses chilled uncovered.