USE OF HYDRODYNAMIC PRESSURE PROCESSING AND BLADE TENDERIZATION TO TENDERIZE TOP ROUNDS FROM BRAHMAN CATTLE

Tenderization effects of hydrodynamic pressure processing (HDP), blade tenderization (BT) and a combination of BT followed by HDP (BT + HDP) were evaluated with 12 top rounds from Brahman cattle selected for toughness. Warner–Bratzler shear testing was performed on the day of treatment (D0) and after storage (D7). On D0, BT and HDP increased tenderness by 18% and BT + HDP yielded a 14% improvement over control steaks. Tenderness increased (P < 0.05) for HDP and BT + HDP treatment between D0 and D7, whereas tenderness did not change for BT treatment. Control samples increased (P < 0.05) in tenderness because of aging alone (20% improvement). Overall tenderness improvements for BT + HDP and HDP (D7) versus control (D0) were 37 and 29%, respectively. BT provided instant tenderization but without additional improvement during aging. HDP and BT + HDP resulted in instantaneous tenderization that also increased over time and provided the greatest amount of overall improvement in tenderness.