Quality changes in beef gluteus medius, infraspinatus, psoas major, rectus femoris, and teres major enhanced prior to aging.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of enhancement and aging on quality characteristics of the gluteus medius (round), rectus femoris (round), teres major (chuck), infraspinatus (chuck), and psoas major (loin). Muscles were enhanced, vacuum packaged, and aged for 7 or 14 d. Aging affected enhanced compared with nonenhanced beef differently. After 7 d of aging, enhanced beef experienced more cook loss and was less red (higher hue angle, lower a* values, and chroma) than did nonenhanced beef; after 14 d of aging, these differences were lost. Enhancement increased tenderness and brown color of the gluteus medius (round); however, it decreased visual green and red colors. Enhanced gluteus medius experienced 3.1% lower purge losses, lower L* values, and chroma than their nonenhanced counterparts. Enhancement increased infraspinatus (chuck) tenderness and visual brown color, and decreased visual red and green colors, purge loss, L* value, a* value, and chroma. The enhanced infraspinatus was substantially more tender than the other muscles evaluated, other than the gluteus medius; however, it was also substantially more visually brown. Enhancement decreased purge loss of the psoas major. Enhancement increased L* and a* values, hue angles, and chroma than other enhanced muscles. After enhancement the tenderness of the rectus femoris increased by 10%, decreased purge losses from 4.5% to 1.7%, and decreased green color by 18%. It reduced L* and a* values and chroma. Aging increased tenderness. Overall, muscles from the chuck (infraspinatus and teres major) appeared to benefit the most from enhancement.