Bio-Electrical Impedance Device for Remote Control of an Indirect Index of Mechanical Tenderness in Ripening Beef Meat

Abstract

With the aim to contribute in increasing the meat beef preference from consumers on the basis of their unbiased knowledge of meat tenderness, we have built an information and communication technology platform: the ICTZm, based on the measure of the ratio between the transversal resistivity and the longitudinal one of the muscle fibres, i.e. the electrical anisotropy ratio (RT/RL), which decreases during the ripening period of the meat while increasing mechanical tenderness since its mechanical resistance to compression stress decreases. For this we integrated a commercial electronic board generating a constant current (1 mA at 65 KHz) together with a command and control system and a remote data acquisition system by which RT/RL values of 6 beef longissimus dorsi muscle portion from 3 young cattle where remotely assessed, along the processing line, within 14 days from slaughter at 5°C. From assessed data we obtained a nonlinear equation, of the symmetrical sigmoidal type, which fitted curve consents to obtain the RT/RL value at a given day from slaughter (R2 = 0.96). So our ICTZm allowed us to acquire numerical values from which an indirect but objective index of meat mechanical resistance/tenderness could be furnished to the consumer.