Consumer palatability of beef muscles from Australian and US production systems with or without enhancement

The objective was to assess the consumer (n = 360) palatability and satisfaction of enhanced (7%) and non-enhanced Australian (AUS) grain-fed, AUS grass-fed, and USA grain-fed beef from two beef muscles. Strip loin (longissimus lumborum; LL) and top sirloin butt (gluteus medius; GM) subprimals were collected from 12 AUS grass-fed, 12 AUS grain-fed, and 12 USA grain-fed (USDA Choice) carcasses. In addition, tenderloin (psoas major) and eye of round (semitendinosus) subprimals were collected from the same US carcasses to serve as anchors for high and low palatability. All subprimals were aged until 29 to 32 d postmortem. All fabrication and enhancement occurred in Lubbock, TX. Data were analyzed initially as a randomized complete design and subsequently as a split-split plot design, with the main effects of country of origin/diet (AUS grain-fed, AUS grass-fed, and USA grain-fed), muscle [LL and GM], enhancement (0 or 7%), and all potential interactions as fixed effects.  Enhancement significantly improved palatability in both LL and GM steaks as evidenced by greater (P  0.05) to non-enhanced grain-fed beef. This response to enhancement was observed in consumer scores for both LL and GM samples. Consumers could not detect differences (P > 0.05) in tenderness, juiciness, flavor, overall liking, or satisfaction between grain-fed beef from Australia and the USA.