提高牛肉价值
CALS student examines consumer preferences to improve top round cuts
When browsing the meat aisle at your local grocery store, you’ll notice that top round cuts of beef are typically priced lower than other cuts. Located in the round primal on the rump 和 hind legs, top round cuts are made up of muscles used for movement, resulting in a leaner 和 less tender cut of beef.
研究ers at the University of Idaho want to improve the top round cut — offering consumers a higher quality item 和 producers more value for their product. Brooklyn Epperson, a U of I student studying 动物和兽医科学:生产 in the 农学院 和 生命科学 is spearheading a consumer beef purchasing survey as the first step in the process.
“我们正在努力弄清楚, 如果我们用某种方式切牛排, then maybe consumers will have a different choice,艾普森说.
和伊利诺伊大学的助理教授一起工作 迈克尔贴画 和 菲尔·巴斯 in the Department of 动物,兽医 和 食品科学, 和 Kasee史密斯 in the Department of Agricultural 和 扩展 Education, Epperson administered an online survey featuring roughly 200 different steak cuts. 保持调查简短, participants were r和omly assigned a small subset of the steak cuts to view. Participants then indicated how likely they would be to purchase that steak 和 how much they would be willing to pay.
“We’re hoping to see what consumers would most likely choose between the steaks,艾普森说. “This will hopefully add more value to an inexpensive cut of beef like the top round. Hopefully producers can see a value change in this portion of meat.”
备选切割方法
Results from the survey will help researchers decide which cutting methods to present to processors as alternatives to traditional top round cuts. One option is 把浅层和深层分开 portions of meat to create a more uniform product.
“I think it’s important to provide consumers with a more uniformed product,艾普森说. “We’re looking at the deep 和 superficial portions of the meat so sometimes there could be color changes occurring in the superficial portion 和 the deep portion might be darker. We’re hoping by cutting the meat 和 slicing it in two, 把浅层和深层分开, that consumers might see a more uniform product.”
The color of a cut of beef can influence a consumer’s willingness to purchase. Consumers prefer beef that is bright red 和 perceive discolorations as the product being less fresh or less safe to eat. Discoloration doesn’t necessarily indicate spoilage, but consumers are unwilling to take the risk.
“变色, it’s not a bad thing it just happens with cooling methods because the deep portion could be cooled at a slower rate than the superficial,艾普森说. “So, I think if consumers see a more perfectly red portion of beef instead of having a small area of redness, 他们会更倾向于购买.”
未来的肉类科学家
原产于林登, 加州, Epperson transferred to U of I in spring 2019 after earning an associate degree in animal science from Modesto Junior College.
“I’d heard U of I had a great pre-vet program,艾普森说. “我们参观了校园，见了博士. 然后就爱上了它. 这绝对是我梦寐以求的学校.”
Although she knew that she wanted to one day work with animals, it wasn’t until she took an opportunity to join Colle 和 Bass’ meat science team as an undergraduate research assistant that Epperson found her true calling.
“一旦我和Dr. 巴斯和博士. Colle’s meat science group 和 got involved with the research I automatically was fascinated 和 wanted to learn more,”她说。. “I really had no idea what meat science entailed so learning more about the industry, interacting with students 和 seeing the results has been the best part.”
Epperson will graduate in May 2021 和 plans to further her education at U of I with a master’s degree. She hasn’t decided on a future career but knows that it will be in meat science.
“I wasn’t expecting to go from pre-vet to meat science, 但有一次我掉进去了, 我非常喜欢,”她说。. “我对未来的发展持开放态度. Teaching people 和 looking at different cut choices could be worked together. Being able to teach people more about the industry would be very fascinating.”
本文由 艾米Calabretta农业与生命科学学院
照片 乔Pallen，大学传播与市场营销
出版于2021年4月
