Differences in the taste-active compounds between Hanwoo longissimus and semitendinosus muscles and its comparision with Angus longissimus beef muscle

Taste-active compounds (e.g., amino acids and nucleotides) play an important role in contribution to the gustatoty sensation of food. The current study aimed to examine the differences in taste-active compounds between different beef muscles, breeds and aging periods. We have chosen the longissimus dorsi and semitendinosus muscles of Hanwoo breed and longis-simus dorsi muscle of Angus breed for the investigation of the aforementioned compounds. Hanwoo muscles were aged for 7 or 28 d, and Angus samples were aged for 28 d at 4 °C. Results revealed that 8 out of the 18 detected free amino acids (FAA) showed significant (p<0.05) differences between the two Hanwoo muscles. Twelve FAAs showed aging effect (p<0.05) in which the amounts of 8 FAAs significantly increased as aging time increased. Inosine 5-monophosphate (IMP), hypoxanthine (Hx) and inosine showed significant (p<0.05) differences between the Hanwoo muscles, aging resulted in an increase in amounts of these nucleotides. Hanwoo beef had significantly (p<0.05) higher total amount of sweet amino acids than the Angus ones in that 15 amino acids showed differences (p<0.05) between the two breeds. Amounts of guanosine 5-monophos-phate (GMP) and Hx were significantly higher (p<0.05) for Angus beef. Current study indicated that muscle type, breed and aging period had large variations in free amino acid and nucleotide contents, which may subsequently affect the taste attributes of cooked beef.