Post-mortem Aging

DR. MUHAMMAD ISSA KHAN

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Tenderness vs Price
$/pound
Consumer Rankings of Sensory Traits
Postmortem Aging
Postmortem aging
 Aging of meat also known as ripening or conditioning is done to improve
 Tenderness
 Flavor (McGee, 2004)
 The proteases in postmortem period breakdown the proteins resulting in
tenderness during conversion of muscle into meat
(Gruber et al., 2006)
 Tenderness of meat increases with increasing aging time so
 Temperature of aging
 Time of aging (Mottram, 1998)
 Tenderness varies with the type of muscle being aged
 Aging also improve flavor, mouth feel and juiciness
(Irurueta et al., 2008)
 Dry aging: Meat is placed in refrigerated room without any packaging

 Wet aging: Meat is vacuumed packed and stored in refrigerated room

(Smith et al., 2008)
Dry Aging Wet Aging
Condition for Dry Aging
 Meat aging depends upon a number of factors; temperature (around
0oC), relative humidity (80-85%), duration and air velocity etc
Temperature
 The meat aging temperature is a critical factor;
• Low below meat freezing (-2 to -3oC), the enzymatic processes
involved in aging will be ceased
• Elevated above 4oC, promotion of the pathogens growth
(Schafer et al., 2002)

 Dry aging literature has mostly reported the storage of meat

between 0 to 4oC
Relative Humidity

 The relative humidity is kept around 85%;

• high relative humidity will cause microbial growth
• low RH will result in shrinkage and will reduce the juiciness
(Scilingo et al., 2002)
Aging Duration
 Postmortem period plays an important role as rapid tenderness is seen
upto 14 days
 Time of aging varied tremendously in practice and literature
 Smith (2007) observed no differences in overall like, flavor like,
tenderness like and level of tenderness when aging periods 14, 21, 28
and 35 days were compared
 However 17% reduction in objective tenderness was observed between
14 and 35 day
Air Velocity
 Air velocity also affects aging as adequate air flow is required for the
removal of moisture;

• Increased velocity causes increased moisture loss leading to

shrinkage and causes more weight and trim losses

• Inadequate air velocity causes excessive moisture on the product that

causes off flavor development and rancidity

(Miller et al., 1985)

 Diekman et al. (2013) observed variations in trim losses for special bag
aging and attributed these variation to cooler conditions (temperature, air
speed and relative humidity) and handling practices
Factors affecting Aging
Animal Breed
 Meat tenderness, flavor development and aging time are influenced by
breed and it should be considered in assessing consumer preferences of
beef throughout ageing (Monson et al., 2005)

 Breed and slaughter weight of animal affects the rate of sensory

changes during aging (Campo et al., 1999)
 The genetic differences in beef tenderness were associated with the
variation in rate and extent of muscle postmortem proteolysis
(Wulf et al., 1996)
 Calpastatin activity has been considered as a cause of differences
between Bos Taurus and Bos Indicus (Whipple et al., 1990)
Animal Gender
 The sex of animal has apparent impact on the flavor variations in meat
as Crouse et al. (1981) observed in his study that meat from ram had
more intense flavor than those of wethers

 Gorraiz et al. (2006) oberved variation in volatile compounds, odor

and flavor due to aging time in bull and heifers

 Morgan et al. (1993) observed high calpastatin concentration in

muscles from bull carcases resulting in lesser proteolysis by calpain
and increased shear force of meat from bulls

 The meat from young bulls was variable in tenderness than meat from
steers in most cases (Dikeman et al., 1986)
Animal Feed
 Feed affects the carcass conformation, physicochemical and
organoleptic parameters of meat quality like proximate composition,
fatty acids profile, meat tenderness and color (Li et al., 2014)

 Animals fed with grain-based finishing diet showed higher

concentrations of BCFAs compounds (Young et al., 2003)

 Grain-based diets have greater carbohydrate availability than pasture

based (Young and Braggins, 1998)

 The higher intramuscular fat content decrease the muscle resistance to

shearing as soft fat dilute fibrous tissues (Wood et al., 1999)
Pre-slaughter stress
 Pre-slaughter stress may be result of many factors; handling,
restraint, weather conditions, novelty of environment, hunger,
thirst, fatigue (Apple et al., 2005)
 The rapid release of catecholamines in pre-slaughter stressed
animals resulting in glycogen depletion (Lacourt and Tarrant
1985) and high ultimate pH leading to darker meat (Kannan et
al., 2002)
 The secretion of catecholamines significantly changes the energy
metabolism (lipolysis & glycogenlysis) in muscle and
gluconeogenesis (Kuchel, 1991)
 Furthermore, they have anabolic effect on muscles protein
metabolism through decreased protein degradation (Rooyackers
and Nair, 1997)
Muscle fiber types and proteolytic enzymes

 The type of muscles also affect the aging and aging time as muscle
rich in connective tissue will require longer time for aging (Huff and
Parrish, 1993)

 The biochemical and morphological individuality of muscle fiber

types affect the metabolism in skeletal muscles of live animals and
postmortem conversion of muscle into meat (Ryu and Kim, 2006)

 The level of metabolic enzymes and ATPase activity differ among

muscle fiber types (Hocquette et al., 1998)

 The natural proteolytic enzyme system is one of the major factors

responsible for meat tenderization (Koohmaraie, 1992)
 Three proteolytic enzyme systems in the meat muscle;

• First the calpains dependent upon calcium for activation

performing optimally at neutral pH (Koohmaraie, 1992)

• Second are the lysosomal enzymes requiring acidic conditions for

their activities (Koohmaraie, 1992)

• Third are the proteinases complexes requiring alkaline pH (7.5 to

8.5) and temperature in the range of 50 to 60 oC (Arbona and
Koohmaraie, 1993)

 M-calpain and µ-calpain play major role in muscles apoptosis, protein

turnover, remodeling, myogenis and metabolism
Meat Quality parameters Influenced by Aging
Meat Tenderness
 Meat tenderness is the major imperative factor of meat palatability in
comparison with all other underlying factors (Dransfield, 2003) and
fluctuating tenderness is a major dilemma faced by the meat sector
(Belew et al., 2003)
 Texture of meat is strongly correlated with tenderness which in turn is
associated with its mechanical strength which is presumed to decrease
during postmortem aging of meat (Gokalp et al., 2002)
 Campbell et al. (2001) stated that panelists found steaks from the 14-
day dry aging significantly more tender compared 7 days or the
controls
 Aging has a beneficial effect on tenderization (Partida et al., 2007)
and it is seen to be improved more in the first ten days and after that
its rate becomes constant
 Cifuni et al., (2004) found that tenderization increased by extending
the aging period from 8 to 15 days
Meat Flavor
 Aging contribute to structural changes and flavor development of
cooked meat (Koohmaraie et al., 1988)
 Campo et al. (1999) stated that overall and livery flavor intensity
increased throughout ageing time
 Formation of many peptides during post mortem process leads to the
development of flavor precursors and this is related to the evolution of
flavor (Etherington, 1987; Koohmaraie et al., 1988)
 Ageing also results in an increase of acid flavor as described by
Spanier et al. (1997) especially after 10 days
 Daszkiewicz, et al. (2003) observed the better taste in beef samples of
M. longissimus lumborum conditioned at 0-2oC stored for longer
period (10 to 14 days) than those conditioned for 3 to 7 days which
proved as a positive effect of aging on the organoleptic properties
 The beef aged for 7 days showed an increased aftertaste and
characteristic flavor (Gorraiz et al., 2002)
 Umami, butter fried taste and tenderness of the samples increased as
free amino acid and other beef flavor precursors increase due to
higher degree of proteolysis with longer ageing time (Koutsidis et al.,
2008)
Meat Color
 The aged beef has brighter and slightly redder color due to enzymatic
changes that results in breakdown of certain proteins (Gasperlin et al.,
2001: Jayasooriya et al., 2007)
 Ageing time affects all CIE color parameters of longissimus dorsi
muscle (Boakye and Mittal, 1996)
Water Holding Capacity and cooking loss
 The major part of cooking losses are dripping, thawing and
evaporation (Barbantia and Pasquini, 2004; Obuz et al., 2004)
 The water holding capacity of meat increases by the collagenase
enzymes which fragmented the connective tissue and myofibrillar
proteins and improving water holding capacity by proteins (Bruce et
al., 2005)
 Laster et al. (2008) observed higher cooking yield for dry aged top
loin and top sirloin steaks than wet aged
 Laster et al. (2008) and Smith et al. (2008) revealed lower saleable
yield for dry aged steaks compared to wet aged steaks
Conclusions
• Postmortem aging process changes the structural, quality, and
sensorial characteristics of meat
• Flavor development in meat is a result of lipid peroxidation,
Maillard reaction, and inter-reactions of lipid oxidation and
Maillard oxidation products
• A number of pre- and post-mortem factors and conditions during
aging affect the quality characteristics of the aged beef
• The new bag technology has a great potential in dry aging
process, as it combines the concept of vacuum and dry aging
methods
Thanks