The influence of dietary cereal grain source and feed enzymes on the cooking properties and palatability attributes of beef

A total of 54 crossbred steers of similar genotype were randomly allocated Co a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments including 2 diets (corn vs. barley) and 3 enzyme treatments (control, enzyme 1, and enzyme :2). Diets c onsisted of 95% concentrate and 5% silage for 105 to 147 d, following a 14- d step-up period from a 30% concentrate, 70% silage diet (dry matter basis) . All animals were slaughtered using simulated commercial conditions after attaining a mean weight of 567.5 kg. The longissimus thoracis (LT) muscles were excised between the 9th and 12th ribs at 24 h postmortem. They were th en vacuum packaged and aged for 14 d at 2 degrees C, before being frozen at -30 degrees C for subsequent evaluation by an experienced semi-trained lab oratory panel and a highly trained flavor/texture profile panel. Source of dietary grain and dietary enzyme treatment generally failed to produce any important effects on the cooking properties or palatability attributes of b eef. Beef from animals fed barley-based diets was slightly inferior to beef from animals fed corn in certain flavor attributes. Addition of dietary en zymes to the feed, irrespective of the source of dietary grain, appeared to produce a slightly beneficial effect an beef flavor. The magnitude of thes e effects, however, make them of little or no practical importance.