Microbiomes Affect Eating Quality
Tenderness, flavor are affected by the genomes of the organisms in and around meat-producing animals, says CSU meat scientist.
by Bridget Beran, intern, Angus MediaMANHATTAN, KAN. (June 15, 2016) — Keith Belk, Colorado State University, spoke to producers at the 2016 Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting and Symposium hosted in Manhattan, Kan., about trait selection to improve the value of beef.
“We know that marbling is important. We know marbling is associated with both tenderness and flavor,” Keith Belk said, “but there are a bunch of other things that result in a higher eating satisfaction. So, while marbling is important for certain, let’s not forget about those other things.”
Belk said tenderness and flavor topped the list of factors determining a satisfactory experience for consumers. If tenderness and flavor could be consistently provided across the beef industry, Belk said, he believes premium value would be easily attainable for producers.
“We know that marbling is important. We know marbling is associated with both tenderness and flavor,” Belk said, “but there are a bunch of other things that result in a higher eating satisfaction. So, while marbling is important for certain, let’s not forget about those other things.”
Different muscles and their interactions, as well as the influence of the microbiome (the community of microorganisms that live in or on the animal), can increase or decrease the flavor and tenderness of meat. Belk said it’s important for scientists and producers alike to stop thinking of animals as a single organism in an environment.
“We have to instead think about all of the organisms in the environment and how they interrelate and affect each other’s physiology, and then how they express that physiology in their environment,” Belk explained.
With more than 2,000 organisms in and around an animal at any given time, Belk said their impact on the animal cannot be ignored. Moving forward, Belk’s research will focus on understanding the microbiome and understanding the relationship between these smaller organisms and the animal in question.
“There is a symbiotic relationship between the organisms that live in you and on you with your own genome and how you express that genome,” Belk said. “We need to learn to take advantage and capitalize on that.”
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