Eating quality prediction of beef from Italian Simmental cattle based on experts' steak assessment

• Experts developed a quality grid scheme based on steak assessment.
• Sensory descriptors had different weights in the overall quality judgement.
• Steaks were classified as being either high or standard quality beef.
• A relationship was found between the sensory profile and beef quality classes.
• Experts' classification is a good tool to predict the eating quality of beef.

The experiment aimed at defining a grading scheme for Italian Simmental (IS) beef linked to objective measure of eating quality. Four experts developed a meat quality grid based on the assessment of the steak between the 8th and 9th ribs (reference steak). The grid was tested on the reference steak of 29 IS young-bulls. Rib-eye dimension, meat colour, marbling, meat firmness and fat cover highly contributed to overall quality. Two classes of IS beef quality were identified: standard and high. The results were associated with the sensory profile of Longissimus thoracis muscle from the reference steaks performed by a trained panel. The differences in quality highlighted by experts in raw steak accounted for most of the relevant information regarding the sensory properties of cooked beef. The accuracy of predictive model was 96.6%. The developed scheme is a helpful tool for valuing the eating quality of beef.