Effects of blade tenderization on some quality characteristics of the muscles of mature ewes

The effects of blade tenderization (BT) on some of the quality characteristics of longissimus dorsi (LD) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles from the carcasses of mature ewes were evaluated in this research. Values describing panel tenderness (P < 0.01) and residue after chewing (P < 0.05) were significantly improved by BT. Also, the number of chews before swallowing was significantly reduced (P < 0.01) in the tenderized samples. The LD muscle had a significantly better (P > 0.01) panel tenderness score and number of chews value than the SM muscle. BT influenced significantly (P < 0.05) the initial yield force values of the Instron Warner-Bratzler test, which were 5.42+/-0.30 kg and 6.45+/-0.42 kg for tenderized and non-tenderized samples, respectively. Peak force and work done Values were also significantly (P < 0.01) affected by BT. The LD muscle had a lower peak force value (5.88 +/- 0.39 kg vs 7.06 +/- 0.33 kg) than the SM muscle. However, other Instron Warner-Bratzler test parameters were not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by muscle type. The chewiness, hardness, peak force 2 and work done 2 values determined by the Instron compression test were significantly affected by muscle type. Also, BT resulted in lower values for chewiness, hardness, peak force 1 and 2, and work done 1 and 2 values, but the differences between tenderized and non-tenderized samples were not statistically significant (P > 0.05).