Interrelationship between measures of collagen, compression, shear force and tenderness

This study examined the relationship between collagen content as determined by hydroxyproline assay with other measures of connective tissue, shear force and tenderness in lamb muscle. Samples were taken from both m. longissimus lumborum (LL, loin) and the m. semimembranosus (SM, topside) of 99 lambs. Sensory tenderness and compression of the LL were not correlated to any measure of collagen or connective tissue, with one exception where compression was correlated (r=-0.28; P<0.05) to the percentage of connective tissue determined by imaging. Intramuscular fat (IMF) was linearly correlated (P<0.05) to sensory tenderness and compression, such that a 1% increase in IMF increased the tenderness score by 2.3±0.83 units and reduced compression by 0.73±0.21 N. There was no correlation between SM shear force and collagen concentration. The data suggest that measurement of collagen concentration did not explain the variation in shear force and sensory tenderness observed in the meat from lambs.