Brazilian beef quality mapping: animal profile and quality attributes
Dyana Carla Lima Hargreaves Noguera1, Isabela Benfica de Barros1, Jonatã Henrique Rezende-de-Souza1
1Department of Food Engineering and Technology, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Food Research International (Ottawa, Ont.)
|March 27, 2026
Summary
Brazilian beef quality varies due to animal traits and handling. Sarcomere length strongly impacts tenderness, with higher myofibrillar fragmentation and soluble collagen linked to lower shear force (WBSF).
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Food Science
- Meat Science
Background:
- Brazilian beef production involves diverse cattle breeds and regional practices.
- Understanding the link between animal characteristics and meat quality is crucial for industry improvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize beef cattle profiles and meat quality attributes in Brazil.
- To investigate the influence of intrinsic animal factors and muscle characteristics on beef tenderness.
Main Methods:
- Collected 520 Longissimus thoracis samples from 13 Brazilian slaughterhouses.
- Analyzed pH, proximate composition, cooking loss, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), sarcomere length, myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI), and collagen content.
- Utilized Spearman correlation to assess relationships between variables.
Main Results:
- Most cattle were Bos indicus (97.2%), non-castrated (64.4%), with medium fat cover (55.5%).
- A high incidence of DFD (dark, firm, dry) meat (15.7%) was observed.
- Only 8.5% of samples were tender (< 43.1 N WBSF), with a strong negative correlation between sarcomere length and WBSF (r = -0.691).
- Higher MFI and soluble collagen correlated with lower WBSF.
Conclusions:
- Brazilian beef quality variability is influenced by intrinsic animal factors, postmortem handling, and muscle structure.
- Sarcomere length is a key determinant of beef tenderness.
- Findings provide insights for strategies to enhance national beef quality.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:19Quality Assurance
3.9K
Quality assurance is the overarching term used to describe the activities employed to ensure the proper performance of a system. These activities can be classified into three categories: quality control, quality assessment, and internal corrective measures. Typically, these activities work cyclically: quality control is performed before and during the analysis, while quality assessment occurs during and after the investigation. Internal corrective measures are implemented based on the findings...
3.9K
02:24Ribosome Profiling
4.3K
Ribosome profiling or ribo-sequencing is a deep sequencing technique that produces a snapshot of active translation in a cell. It selectively sequences the mRNAs protected by ribosomes to get an insight into a cell’s translation landscape at any given point in time.
Applications of ribosome profiling
Ribosome profiling has many applications, including in vivo monitoring of translation inside a particular organ or tissue type and quantifying new protein synthesis levels.
The technique...
Applications of ribosome profiling
Ribosome profiling has many applications, including in vivo monitoring of translation inside a particular organ or tissue type and quantifying new protein synthesis levels.
The technique...
4.3K
01:05Quality Control
4.2K
Quality control is one of the three cyclical quality assurance activities that help keep a system under statistical control. Typical quality control activities include creating quality control charts, conducting proficiency testing, and documenting and archiving results.
Quality control helps track data, visualize trends, and identify variations, making it easier to detect deviations that may affect the accuracy of an analysis. One way to do this is by generating a quality control chart, which...
Quality control helps track data, visualize trends, and identify variations, making it easier to detect deviations that may affect the accuracy of an analysis. One way to do this is by generating a quality control chart, which...
4.2K
01:29Protein Folding Quality Check in the RER
5.6K
ER is the primary site for the maturation and folding of soluble and transmembrane secretory proteins. The calnexin cycle is a specific chaperone system that folds and assesses the confirmation of N-glycosylated proteins before they can exit the ER lumen. The primary players of this quality check pipeline are the lectins, ER-resident chaperones, and a glucosyl transferase enzyme. In case the calnexin system in the lumen fails to salvage a misfolded protein, it is transported to the cytoplasm...
5.6K
03:46Qualitative Analysis
28.6K
For solutions containing mixtures of different cations, the identity of each cation can be determined by qualitative analysis. This technique involves a series of selective precipitations with different chemical reagents, each reaction producing a characteristic precipitate for a specific group of cations. Metal ions within a group are further separated by varying the pH, heating the mixture to redissolve a precipitate, or adding other reagents to form complex ions.
For instance, group IV...
For instance, group IV...
28.6K
01:10Qualitative Analysis
1.9K
Qualitative analysis is the process of identifying elements, ions, or compounds in an unknown sample. It is the first and most fundamental type of analysis based on the hierarchy of analytical goals. This hierarchy is significant as it provides a structured approach to scientific research, with qualitative analysis serving as the initial step, providing essential information before moving on to quantitative or other forms of analysis.
There are two main approaches to qualitative analysis:...
There are two main approaches to qualitative analysis:...
1.9K