Influence of wet-aging on bloom development in the longissimus thoracis

The longissimus thoracis (LT) from USDA Select beef carcasses was used to test the effect of aging period (0, 7, 14, 21, 28, or 35 d) on bloom development (n = 10/aging period). After aging, two 2.54-cm-thick, non-adjacent steaks were cut and instrumental color of the LT was measured at 10-min intervals for 2 h. All instrumental color parameters increased (P < 0.05) over 40% during the first 10 min; however, asymptotic points indicated that color plateaued sometime after 120 min. Although aging did not (P ⩾ 0.05) affect the values where color development plateaued, rate of oxymyoglobin formation tended to be the slowest (P = 0.06) in LT steaks aged 7 d compared to steaks aged 0, 14, 28 and 35 d. Results indicated that as much as 90% of the total increase (P < 0.05) in instrumental color and oxymyoglobin percentages was achieved during the first 60 min after cutting, but aging period had no impact on bloom development.