Effect of age on meat quality of local steer from Yunnan province

To investigate the effects of age on meat qualities and nutrition of Yunnan local steer,9 meat samples were taken from 9 steers,whose ages were 9 months,18 months and 30 months(3 steers per age group).Meat qualities and nutrition were measured. The results showed that shear force,a* and b* were significantly different(p<0.05) compared within the 3 groups,meanwhile,cooking loss,water loss,p H and L* had no notable differences. The shear force of group 9 months and 30 months were significantly higher than group 18 months,a* and b* of group 18 months and 30 months were significantly higher than group 9 months. L* showed no regularities,cooking loss and water loss showed no notable differences,but they showed down trend with the steers' aging. There were significant differences on water content,fat content and ash content(p<0.05). The water content of group 9 month was 75.84%,which was 4.37% higher than group 18 months and 7.64% higher than group 30 months. Fat content of group 18 months and 30 months were 4.11% and 7.50% higher than group 9 months. Ash contents of group 9 months and 18 months were the same,which was 0.12%(p <0.05)lower than group 30 months. Meat qualities and nutrition of Yunnan local steer were significantly influenced by ages,especially tender,color,water and fat content. This research provided a theoretical reference for further study on meat quality and nutrition of Yunnan local steer.