Project Number: 5438-31430-005-01
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 01, 2012
End Date: Sep 30, 2013

Objective:
Determine the relationship between VBG2000 beef carcass grading camera color thresholds for dark-cutter beef and flavor profile of longissimus steaks, USDA-AMS dark-cutting discounts, and packing plant grid dark cutter discounts.

Approach:
At a commercial beef processor, we will select 40 severe dark cutters, 40 moderate dark cutters, 40 mild dark cutters, 40 carcasses with borderline (muddy) lean color and 160 normal cohorts. These carcasses will be graded with the VBG2000 E+V grading camera. We will obtain the USDA and processing plant dark-cutting discounts for these carcasses. The strip loin (IMPS #180) will be obtained from the left side of each carcass, vacuum-packaged, transported (1°C) to USMARC and aged (1°C) until 14 d postmortem. Four 2.54-cm steaks will be removed from the anterior end of each strip loin. One each for slice shear force assessment and simulated retail display, and two for sensory evaluation.