Flavor Profiles and Traits of Crossbred Dairy Cattle

The objective of this study was to evaluate the meat quality of five beef breed crosses with dairy cattle: Angus × Holstein, Angus × Dairy Cross, Charolais × Jersey, Charolais × Dairy Cross, SimAngus × Holstein. The SimAngus cross is an F1 cross between Simmental and Angus. Meat quality was evaluated through carcass measurements, Warner-Bratlzer Shear Force, trained consumer panels, and volatile flavor compound analysis. Carcass data was provided: Angus and SimAngus crosses had the heaviest hot carcass weights (P < 0.05) compared to Charolais crosses. Likewise, Angus and SimAngus crosses had greater marbling score (P = 0.05) and percentage of USDA Choice cattle (P < 0.05), compared with Charolais crosses. Charolais cross cattle had larger ribeyes (P < 0.05), and also had more percentage of USDA Select cattle (P < 0.05) compared to the Angus and SimAngus crosses. Panelists discovered that Angus and SimAngus crosses were ranked higher in beef flavor ID (P < 0.05) and fat like (P = 0.04) than Charolais cross cattle. Charolais cross cattle were ranked higher in bitterness (P = 0.03) and oxidized (P = 0.01). There was no difference within Warner-Bratzler shear force values among all five breed crosses (P = 0.79). Within the Maillard products, ketones showed Angus x Holstein cattle having higher concentrations (P < 0.05). Within the lipid products, Angus cross cattle tended to have higher concentrations of ketones (P < 0.05) and carboxylic acids (P < 0.05). The results have shown that Angus and SimAngus cattle have the greatest impacts on carcass results when crossed with dairy cattle. It showed that if producers are trying to create a branded beef program Angus cattle tended to have higher flavor scores since tenderness and juiciness were the same among the breed crosses.