Arkansas - Agricultural Communication Services - University of ...

AAES Research Series 488
Results and Discussion
There was no difference (P > 0.10) for flavor of steaks
due to treatment, age category, or gender (Table 1). However,
there was an age category by gender by age category interaction
(P < 0.01). Consumers under 30 exhibited a gender by
treatment interaction (P < 0.05; Table 2) for flavor. Females
under 30 had higher flavor scores for (P < 0.05) for foragefinished
beef that was slightly marbled than did males under
30 (5.62 vs 4.83). There were no differences in flavor scores
for the over 30 age category.
Gender by treatment and age category by treatment
interactions (P < 0.05) were observed for juiciness (Tables 3
and 4). Consumers under the age of 30 rated forage-finished
beef that had a small amount of marbling juicier than consumers
over 30 (4.34 vs 3.12) while consumers over 30 rated
forage-finished beef that had a slight amount of marbling
juicier than persons under 30 (4.46 vs 4.18). Females rated
beef that had a small amount of marbling less juicy than
males (3.17 vs 4.22).
Degree of tenderness differed by gender and age of the
consumer (Treatment by age interaction, P < 0.05, Table 3;
and treatment by gender interaction, P < 0.01, Table 4).
Consumers under 30 found that forage-finished beef having a
small amount of marbling more tender than the over 30 age
group. Males and females differed in their ratings of degree
of tenderness of forage-finished beef, with females preferring
beef with a slight amount of marbling (5.65 vs 5.10) and
males preferring a small amount of marbling (4.85 vs 3.76).
Males found the grain-finished beef with a small degree of
marbling more tender than their female counterparts (5.85
vs 4.97).
The overall acceptability of beef also differed among
the different gender and age groups (Tables 3, 4, and 5).
Males had a higher (P < 0.01) acceptability for grain-finished
beef having a slight degree of marbling than females. Foragefinished
beef having a small degree of marbling was more
acceptable (P < 0.01) to males than females (Table 3).
Consumers under 30 found grain-finished beef having a
slight degree of marbling more acceptable than consumers
over 30 (4.58 vs 3.69; Table 3). Males found grain-fed and
forage-fed Choice beef more acceptable than females (5.95 vs
5.19 and 4.89 vs. 3.39; Table 4). There was also an age category
by gender interaction (P < 0.01) for overall acceptability
(Table 5). Female consumers over age 30 rated all beef
samples less acceptable than female consumers under age 30
and all male consumers.
Implications
These data show that there was no consistent pattern or
opinion concerning the flavor, juiciness, tenderness, or overall
acceptability of forage finished versus grain finished beef.
However, it does show that consumers under 30 years of age
accepted beef that was forage finished. These data suggest
that alternative methods of finishing cattle may be viable for
the beef industry for niche market.
Literature Cited
Crouse, J.D. et al., 1984. J. Animal Sci. 58:619.
Daniels, L.B., et al., 2000. Arkansas Animal Science Dept.
Report 2000. Arkansas Agri. Exp. Stat. Rep. Series 478.
Fortin, A., et al. 1985. J. Animal Sci. 60:1403.
Larick, D.K. 1987. J. Food Sci. 522:245.
Melton, S.L. 1983. Food Technol. 37:239.
Smith, G.C. 1990. Tex. Agric. Exp. Sta., Texas A&M Univ.,
College Station, TX.
Table 1. Significance levels for sources of variation
from overall analysis of variance.
Significance levels
Source of variation DF Flavor Juiciness Tenderness Acceptability
Treatment 3 NS * * **
Age category 1 NS NS NS NS
Gender 1 NS + NS **
Age category * gender 1 NS NS NS **
Age category * treatment 3 NS * * *
Gender * treatment 3 NS * ** **
Age category * gender * treatment 3 ** NS NS NS
Residual 299
+P < 0.10; * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01.
173