MEAT TEXTURE: II. The Relationship Between Subjective Assessments and a Compressive Test on Roast Beef

Ten instrumental characteristics of the mechanical properties of roast beef were derived from an analysis of the force‐deformation curve obtained during compression of the meat between blunt jaws, fitted in the Instron. Equipment is described for recording the curve in a computer readable form on punched tape. Sixty‐nine samples of beef, representing a wide range of textural properties, were examined instrumentally and by a taste panel. The data correlated much more closely with the sensory ‘toughness‐tenderness’ factor than with the sensory ‘juiciness’ factor. All characteristics of cold samples together accounted for 50% of the variance in the ‘toughness‐tenderness’ factor of samples tasted hot and for 75% of those tasted cold. Two or three of the characteristics were almost as effective. Neither single characteristics derived from the compression curve nor their various combinations improved markedly the correlations with sensory assessments reported in the literature and obtained with other texture measuring devices.