Technical note: validation of a model for online classification of US Select beef carcasses for longissimus tenderness using visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy.

The present experiment was conducted to provide a validation of a previously developed model for online classification of US Select carcasses for LM tenderness based on visible and near-infrared (VISNIR) spectroscopy and to determine if the accuracy of VISNIR-based tenderness classification could be enhanced by making measurements after postmortem aging. Spectroscopy was conducted online, during carcass grading, at a large-scale commercial fed beef-processing facility, and the strip loin was obtained from the left side of US Select carcasses (n = 467). Slice shear force (SSF) was measured on fresh steaks at 2 and 14 d postmortem. Online VISNIR tenderness classes differed in mean SSF values at both 2 d (29.4 vs. 33.6 kg) and 14 d (18.0 vs. 21.2 kg) postmortem (P < 10(-7)). Online VISNIR tenderness classes differed in both the percentage of carcasses with LM SSF values greater than 40 kg at 2 d postmortem (5.1 vs. 21.0%; P < 10(-6)) and the percentage of carcasses with LM SSF values greater than 25 kg at 14 d postmortem (6.8 vs. 23.2%; P < 10(-5)). Whereas 15.0% of the carcasses sampled for this experiment had LM SSF values greater than 25 kg at 14 d postmortem, only 6.8% of the carcasses classified as tender by VISNIR had LM SSF values greater than 25 kg. All the carcasses sampled that had LM SSF values greater than 35 kg at 14 d postmortem were accurately classified as tough by VISNIR. Before measurement of SSF on d 14, VISNIR spectroscopy was conducted on the SSF steak. Tenderness classes based on d 14 VISNIR spectra differed both in mean SSF value at 14 d postmortem (17.7 vs. 21.6 kg; P < 10(-11)) and the percentage of carcasses with LM SSF values greater than 25 kg at 14 d postmortem (7.3 vs. 22.7%; P < 10(-5)). These data support our previous work showing that VISNIR spectroscopy can be used to classify US Select carcasses noninvasively for LM tenderness, and the results establish that this technology could also be applied to aged US Select strip loins. This technology would allow packing companies and other segments of the beef marketing chain to identify US Select carcasses or strip loins that excel in LM tenderness for use in branded beef programs.