The eating quality of meat: II—Tenderness

Tenderness is an important eating quality trait that is impacted by pre- and postslaughter factors. Preslaughter factors can be controlled to some extent, by genetic selection and careful management of animals up until the point of slaughter. Significant advances in technology have been made, which can be used postslaughter to maximize tenderness, such as electrical stimulation and stretching techniques, and if these are incorporated into cut-based grading systems, then branded products with guaranteed levels of tenderness can be provided to consumers. Such an approach recognizes the inherent and intrinsic variation in tenderness across muscles, which reflects the differing demands across the musculature of animals.