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116. THl TECHNOlOGIS7"S DEFINI TiON OF QUAL I TY 3N MEAT GEORGE D. Wl LSOW .-.....--......--.....-..-...*..-.-.......-..-...-....-...-.-.-...-AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE FOUNDATION A technological definition of meat quality is, through necessity, more complex than a consumer definition and because of this complexity becomes too broad to have real significance. The consumer uses certain criteria for selecting meat even though there may be little data to substantiate them. For example, the housewife selects beef cuts with a bright red color when there is little evidence for a direct relationship between color and palatability. Because the quality factors of fresh and cured meat differ in some respects they will be discussed individually. In fresh meat, tenderness is of prime importance in the technologist's definition as well a8 in the consumer's. With the exception of saying that a certain number of pounds of force are re- quired to shear a standard sample or a sample must have a particular score on a subjective basis, little can be said from a technologist's viewpoint. This is a direct reflection on our knowledge of the factors responsible for tender- ness. If our present knowledge of meat tenderness is summarized we can only draw the conclusion that there are many interrelated factors Involved. Directly associated with tenderness is the amount of mrbling. Most definitions of quality in meat will include the desirability of ample amounts of intramuscular fat and a limited amount of external finish. From the dis- cussion at our Conference a year ago we know that some people would say that any class of carcaas, including pork carcasses, shauld have this attribute. Unfortunately, the association between marbling and tenderness does not always hold true. Some beef and most pork, veal, and lamb is tender without having deposits of fat in the muscle. When the association between tenderness and marbling breaks down the technologist may still justify the need for intra- muscular fat on the basis that mrbling makes for a firmer, Juicier, more ap- petizing cut of meat. Juiciness and flavor are interrelated and the latter must be included in a technical definition of meat quality. At the present time, flavor in fresh meat is defined more by the absence of off-flavors than the presence of desirable ones. Cur knowledge in this area of meat research is extremely lim- ited but probably involves both the lean and the fat portion. Texture must also be included in a definition of quality. There is evidence that a fine texture (large muscle bundles) is associated with tender- ness but, as in the case of marbling and tenderness, the correlation between bundle size and tenderness under certain conditions is quite low. Although it is not known to possess any intrinsic value as a part of quality, the color of meat does have a psychological and commercial significance and cannot be omit- ted from a discussion of this nature. A good color is associated with fresh- ness and wholesomeness. At the present time this is for the most part justified but if ascorbic acid and/or nicotinic acid came into common use we may have to use other indexes of freshness and wholesomeness. In addition to freshness, color is an indication of the age of the animal from which the meat comes. In each class and grade there appears to be an optimum amount of pigment. Block 117. beef of good color has in the order of 3.50 to 4.00 mg. of myoglobin per gram, whereas in pork only 1.20 to 1.40 mg, of noyoglobin per gram are required for an acceptable color. Because uniformity of color is of significance to the con- sumer, the technologist must also give attention to it, particularly in pork. &ch of the carmnent on fresh meat has been restricted to beef, il- lustrating the paucity of information on quality in the other kinds of meat. With the uncertainty with which we speak of beef quality, we are on dangeroua ground when we, without reservation, apply it to quality in these other meats. Quality in cured whole cuts, such as hams and picnics, can be de- fined in the same vague terminology as fresh meat. Flavor is somewhat better defined in cured hams but again it is largely in terms of the absence of off- flavors . While sausage is most commonly a mixture of meats, curing salts, and seasoning, quality is more easily defined since we are dealing with a homo- geneous product. With some obvious exceptions, quality sausage is made of an all-meat formula and complies with the State or Federal regulations for mois- ture content. Even with an all-meat product the eausage maker ha6 many kinds of meat or meat by-products to choose from and, from a nutritional standpoint, some meats are more desirable than others. Palatability is of utmost eignificance in sausage quality but like different kinds of fresh meat each one of the many kinds of sausage has its own characteristic color, texture, and flavor. It is not within the scope of this topic to discuss the individual peculiarities of each kind of sauswe. Any attempt to define meat quality is seriously restricted by a num- ber of intangible or ill defined factors. An adequate definition can be given only after further research has revealed the factors directly responsible for tenderness, Juiciness, and flavor. MR. FARWELL: Thanks very much, George. We are going to wind up the presentation by our research people with a little of where do we go from here - some possibilities for rc- search in consumer education. We gave J. C. Pierce quite an assignment. In fact, so much of an assignment that he called me long distance from Washington the other day and said, "Why did I agree to a subject like that?" Nevertheless we held him to it. ###if### .

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