Effects of dry-aging on meat quality attributes and metabolite profiles of beef loins

• Different dry-aging regimes and their impacts on beef quality were determined.
• Dry-aged beef had higher flavour and overall liking scores than wet-aged beef.
• Dry-aged beef at 3 °C with 0.2 m/s and 49% RH showed the best palatability.
• Metabolomics analysis was conducted to identify metabolites affected by aging.
• Several flavour related precursors were more abundant in the dry-aged beef.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate different dry-aging regimes and their impacts on quality attributes and metabolite profiles of beef loins. Thirty loins (M. longissimus lumborum) from 15 beef carcasses at 2 days post-mortem were obtained. Each loin was cut in half yielding 60 sections, which were randomly assigned to six treatments including 4 dry-aging (2 temperatures (1 or 3 °C) × 2 air-velocities (0.2 or 0.5 m/s)) and 2 wet-aging regimes for 3 weeks; n = 10/treatment. The sensory panel found that dry-aged loins had better flavour and overall liking (P < 0.05), but there were no differences in tenderness and juiciness. No differences in drip/cook-loss and colour were observed. Metabolite analysis showed that 7 metabolites, including several flavour precursors, were more abundant in the dry-aged beef compared to the wet-aged beef, which may contribute to the enhanced flavours of the dry-aged beef. Overall, dry-aging loins at 3 °C with 0.2 m/s resulted in the greatest improvement in beef palatability.