Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury

Beef quality reflects both intrinsic muscle characteristics and animal-related factors, including genetic background. However, the extent to which muscle-specific quality patterns are consistent across genetic backgrounds remains poorly understood. This study evaluated the multivariate structure of beef quality traits across muscles and genetic backgrounds. Nineteen young bulls from two contrasting genetic backgrounds (Charolais × Salers and Salers) were studied. Four muscles differing in anatomical location and metabolic function (Longissimus thoracis, Semitendinosus, Rectus abdominis and Diaphragm) were analysed for technological, mechanical, compositional and fatty acid-related nutritional traits. Linear mixed-effects models, fixed-effect variance decomposition, muscle hierarchy analyses, Spearman rank correlations and principal component analysis were performed. Muscle type accounted for the largest proportion of explained variation (around 68%) for most technological, compositional and mechanical traits, whereas genetic background made a comparatively smaller contribution. Muscle rankings were broadly consistent across genetic backgrounds for technological, and compositional traits, and showed greater trait-dependent variation for mechanical and nutritional traits. The first two principal components explained 83.7% of the total variation. Dimension 1 separated muscle profiles with greater lightness and mechanical resistance from profiles with higher intramuscular fat and lipid-related variables. Semitendinosus and Diaphragm occupied opposite positions along this axis, whereas Longissimus thoracis and Rectus abdominis displayed intermediate profiles. Within the forage-based production conditions and genetic backgrounds examined, beef quality variation was more strongly associated with muscle type than with genetic background. These findings support muscle-specific evaluation and interpretation of carcass quality traits, while requiring confirmation in larger and more diverse animal populations and production systems.

Adopting a grading scheme inspired by the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) system is considered an effective way to strengthen consumer confidence in beef across Europe. However, differences between Europe and Australia in cattle breeds, production systems, and consumer dietary habits require a re-examination of the links among carcass and muscle traits, as well as beef eating qualities. In France, cull cows constitute a major beef source, with Limousine cattle being one of the predominant breeds. Accordingly, this study evaluated 102 French Limousine cull cows to investigate the relationships among carcass, muscles, and beef eating quality traits, and to explore the predictive value of key biological indicators for beef palatability. A comprehensive dataset integrating carcass grading traits assessed using the EUROP grid and the MSA protocol, muscle physicochemical measurements, and consumer sensory scores of beef was analyzed using correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and linear mixed-effects modelling. In older Limousine cull cows, marbling showed minimal contribution to eating quality prediction. Instead, traits related to muscle development, including age, carcass conformation, and compression force, played a dominant role in determining eating quality (P < 0.05). Model performance differed between consumer-evaluated MSA grade groups, defined as high grade (MSA grade ≥ 3) and low grade (MSA grade < 3). High-MSA grade samples exhibited more comprehensive biological features and achieved higher predictive accuracy, whereas low-MSA grade samples showed reduced model performance, likely due to narrower sensory variation and higher trait homogenization. These findings indicate that predictors of beef eating quality depend on animal type and age. In older cull cows, predictors of eating quality are likely to be more specific, particularly those related to muscle structure and maturity, at least in part. Overall, these findings provide practical guidance for the beef industry in predicting beef eating quality and improving grading systems for cull cows.

Cell-based food, including cultured meat, introduces an innovative complement to our dietary options, introducing cellular agriculture and tissue engineering on the meat market together with traditional livestock farming. Originating from medical tissue cultivation techniques, this approach is now tailored for food production, prioritizing cost-effectiveness, palatability, and resource efficiency. As technology strives to efficiently upscale production, consumer acceptance stands as a key factor in adopting this new protein source. This review explores advances in cultivating muscle and fat tissues in vitro, emphasizing the importance of achieving muscle maturity, innovating scaffolds, and optimizing media composition to closely replicate the qualities of meat. It also addresses quality assessments of cultured meat based on its texture, nutritional content, and flavor. A concise examination of consumer perceptions reveals that acceptance is influenced by a blend of cultural, psychological, and social factors, balancing the positive potential outlook on cultured meat’s benefits for society, the environment, and animal welfare against concerns about its unnaturalness, uncertainty, and safety. Demographic trends suggest higher acceptance among younger, well-educated and urban individuals, contrasting with reservations from those more familiar with the traditional meat sector. Addressing these varied viewpoints is essential for a better understanding of public acceptance if cultured meat is effectively introduced into our future food systems. As media interest in this alternative is still high, aligning technological developments with consumer expectations is crucial for the potential market introduction of cultured meat.

Ageing is an essential step in obtaining meat with satisfactory sensory properties. Dry-ageing, although being a niche practice, is increasingly being developed to enhance the taste experience of meat consumers. In this work, we studied the kinetics of the evolution of muscle properties with increasing ageing time, in order to propose an optimal duration, allowing a compromise between quality and meat weight loss reduction. Our study was performed on 32 samples from 8 animals for which the Longissimus thoracis sensory properties were analysed at different stages of ageing (7, 16, 35 and 60-days post-slaughter). This work showed an increase in the dry matter content of meat with increasing ageing duration, concomitant with a slight increase in pH. Although the luminance of the meat is stabilized after 14-days, the red and yellow indices decrease until 35-days of ageing. Iron content also decreases with ageing duration. Finally, the kinetic evolution of muscle rheological properties indicates that the toughness decreases at least up to 35-days on raw meat. Cooking seems to homogenise the tenderness of the samples, no difference was noticed between the different ageing durations when meat was cooked. These first experimental data need to be confirmed with different animal types.

To characterize carcass and meat attributes, such as beef eating quality in specific farming conditions, 31 young grass-fed crossbred Angus x Salers cattle in two farming systems (a mono-cattle system versus a mixed system with beef cattle and sheep) were used in this study. Three muscle cuts (striploin—m. longissimus dorsi et thoracis; bolar blade—m. triceps brachii caput longum; internal flank plate—m. obliquus internus abdominis) were used for consumer eating quality testing and striploin was used for panelist eating quality assessment, and objective measurements [Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and fatty acid (FA) and antioxidant contents]. Results indicated that the farming system had no impact on carcass characteristics or meat quality, but it tended to affect FA content, which is likely explained by between-system differences in animal maturity (assessed by ossification score). Animal gender had significant effects on three eating quality traits evaluated by untrained consumers, with higher flavor liking, overall liking, and overall meat eating quality (MQ4) scores in females than in males. Additionally, FA contents were correlated with sensory quality traits to varying extents: consumer-scored tenderness, flavor, and overall liking were mainly positively correlated with ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents, and panelist-evaluated tenderness and abnormal flavor were more positively correlated with total lipids, saturated fatty acid (SFA), and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) contents. Overall, this study showed that specific grass-fed crossbred Angus x Salers cattle can produce lean meat rich in ω-3 PUFAs with a low ω-6/ω-3 ratio and with “better than average” beef eating quality.

Quality refers to the characteristics of products that meet the demands and expectations of the end users. Beef quality is a convergence between product characteristics on one hand and consumers’ experiences and demands on the other. This paper reviews the formation of consumer beef quality perception, the main factors determining beef sensory quality, and how to measure and predict beef eating quality at scientific and industrial levels. Beef quality is of paramount importance to consumers since consumer perception of quality determines the decision to purchase and repeat the purchase. Consumer perception of beef quality undergoes a multi-step process at the time of purchase and consumption in order to achieve an overall value assessment. Beef quality perception is determined by a set of quality attributes, including intrinsic (appearance, safety, technological, sensory and nutritional characteristics, convenience) and extrinsic (price, image, livestock farming systems, commercial strategy, etc.) quality traits. The beef eating qualities that are the most valued by consumers are highly variable and depend mainly on the composition and characteristics of the original muscle and the post-mortem processes involved in the conversion of muscle into meat, the mechanisms of which are summarized in this review. Furthermore, in order to guarantee good quality beef for consumers in advance, the prediction of beef quality by combining different traits in scenarios where the animal, carcass, and muscle cuts can be evaluated is also discussed in the current review.