Ruminant meat tenderness. I. Overview of factors affecting meat tenderness. Review

Nikolay Todorov Ivanov

Abstract: The aim of the present article was to make an overview of tenderness of meat from large and small ruminants and to outline some factors that affect it. At present, the tenderness of meat is one of its most important quality traits. It is assumed that tenderness along with juiciness are perhaps the essential and most relevant criteria that determine the consumers’ acceptance of the product. If the meat is tough and does not meet consumers’ demands, it will not be bought by them and vice versa, tender meat will satisfy consumers and will result in repeated purchase of the same product. What is more, surveys indicate that people tend to pay more for more tender meat. The article is focused on some factors, e.g. the calpain system, rigor mortis, animal breed and sex, muscle fibre type, fat and connective tissue content and their impact on meat tenderness. The literature overview demonstrates that meat tenderness varies within a broad range dependent on numerous factors. Future efforts have to be targeted to factors affecting meat tenderness variations. The restriction of impact of factors leading to altered met tenderness becomes a main concern in many meat processing enterprises.

Keywords: factors influencing tenderness; meat tenderness of ruminants

Date published: 2023-04-28