{{Short description|Attribute of meat for cooking}} '''Tenderness''' is a quality of meat gauging how easily it is chewed or cut. Tenderness is a desirable quality, as tender meat is softer, easier to chew, and generally more palatable than harder meat. Consequently, tender cuts of meat typically command higher prices. The tenderness depends on a number of factors including the meat grain, the amount of connective tissue, and the amount of fat.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/meat-processing/Myoglobin-content#ref501728 |title=Meat processing: Meat Qualities |publisher=Britannica |access-date=17 March 2016}}</ref> Tenderness can be increased by a number of processing techniques, generally referred to as ''tenderizing'' or ''tenderization''.
==Influencing factors== Tenderness is perhaps the most important of all factors impacting meat eating quality, with others being flavor, juiciness, and succulence.<ref name="Troy2010">{{cite journal | last1=Troy | first1=D.J. | last2=Kerry | first2=J.P. | title=Consumer perception and the role of science in the meat industry | journal=Meat Science | volume=86 | issue=1 | year=2010 | pages=214–226 | doi=10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.05.009 | pmid=20579814 | bibcode=2010MeatS..86..214T }}</ref>
Tenderness is a quality complex to obtain and gauge, and it depends on a number of factors. On the basic level, these factors are meat grain, the amount and composition of connective tissue, and the amount of fat.<ref name=Britannica/> In order to obtain a tender meat, there is a complex interplay between the animal's pasture, age, species, breed, protein intake, calcium status, stress before and at killing, and how the meat is treated after slaughter.<ref name=hub>{{cite web|url=http://www.naturalhub.com/buy_food_meat_tenderness.htm |title=The Meat Tenderness Debate |publisher=Natural Hub |access-date=17 March 2016}}</ref>
Meat with the fat content deposited within the steak to create a ''marbled'' appearance has always been regarded as more tender than steaks where the fat is in a separate layer.<ref name=hub/> Cooking causes melting of the fat, spreading it throughout the meat and increasing the tenderness of the final product.<ref name=Britannica/>
==Testing==
The meat industry strives to produce meat with standardized and guaranteed tenderness, since these characteristics are sought for by the consumers.<ref name=Luciano>{{cite journal|url=http://www.uco.es/organiza/servicios/publica/az/php/img/web/25_13_47_889BiochemicalLuciano.pdf |title=BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF MEAT TENDERNESS: A BRIEF REVIEW |last1=Luciano |first1=F. B. |last2=Anton |first2=A.A |last3=Rosa |first3 = C.F. |journal=Arch. Zootec. |issue=56 (R): 1–8 |year=2007}}</ref> For that purpose a number of objective tests of tenderness have been developed, gauging meat resistance to shear force, most commonly used being ''Slice Shear Force'' test<ref>{{cite web|title=Slice Shear Force |url=http://www.beefresearch.org/CMDocs/BeefResearch/Slice%20Shear%20Force.pdf|first1=S. D. |last1=Shackelford |first2=T. L. |last2=Wheeler, Ph.D. |publisher=National Cattlemen's Beef Association USDA-ARS |location=Centennial, Colorado |year=2009}}</ref> and ''Warner–Bratzler Shear Force'' test.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/30400510/protocols/Warner-BratzlerShearForceProtocol.pdf |title=Warner-Bratzler Shear Force Protocol |first1=Tommy L. |last1=Wheeler |first2=Steven D. |last2=Shackelford |first3=Mohammad |last3=Koohmaraie USDA-ARS |publisher=U.S. Meat Animal Research Center}}</ref>
==Tenderizing== Techniques for breaking down collagens in meat to make it more palatable and tender are referred to as ''tenderizing'' or ''tenderization''.
There are a number of ways to tenderize meat: *Mechanical tenderization, such as pounding<ref name="oFaC">{{cite book|last=McGee|first=Harold|title=ON FOOD AND COOKING, The science and lore of the kitchen|year=2004|publisher=Scribner|isbn=978-0-684-80001-1|page=155|title-link=On Food and Cooking}}</ref> or piercing.<ref name="oFaC" /> *The tenderization that occurs through cooking, such as braising.<ref name="LAR">{{cite book|title=LAROUSSE Gastronomique|year=2000|publisher=Hamlyn|isbn=978-0-600-60235-4|page=1204}}</ref> *Tenderizers in the form of naturally occurring enzymes known as proteases, which can be added to food before cooking.<ref name="oFaC"/><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Meat tenderization mechanism and the impact of plant exogenous proteases: A review |journal=Arabian Journal of Chemistry |year=2021 |doi=10.1016/j.arabjc.2020.102967 |doi-access=free |last1=Madhusankha |first1=G.D.M.P. |last2=Thilakarathna |first2=R.C.N. |volume=14 |issue=2 |article-number=102967 }}</ref> **Examples of enzymes used for tenderizing: papain from papaya,<ref name="LAR"/> trypsin and chymotrypsin from honey,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=What Are the Proteolytic Enzymes of Honey and What They Do Tell Us? A Fingerprint Analysis by 2-D Zymography of Unifloral Honeys |journal=PLOS ONE |year=2012 |pmc=3492327 |last1=Rossano |first1=R. |last2=Larocca |first2=M. |last3=Polito |first3=T. |last4=Perna |first4=A. M. |last5=Padula |first5=M. C. |last6=Martelli |first6=G. |last7=Riccio |first7=P. |volume=7 |issue=11 |article-number=e49164 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0049164 |pmid=23145107 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...749164R |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Microbial, Physicochemical, and Sensory Characteristics of Quality Grade 2 Beef Enhanced by Injection of Pineapple Concentrate and Honey |journal=Korean J Food Sci Anim Resour |year=2017 |pmc=5599569 |last1=Yoon |first1=J. W. |last2=Lee |first2=D. G. |last3=Lee |first3=H. J. |last4=Choe |first4=J. |last5=Jung |first5=S. |last6=Jo |first6=C. |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=494–501 |doi=10.5851/kosfa.2017.37.4.494 |pmid=28943761 }}</ref> bromelain from pineapple and actinidin from kiwifruit. *Marinating the meat with vinegar, wine, lemon juice, buttermilk or yogurt.<ref name="oFaC"/> *Brining the meat in a salt solution (brine).<ref name="oFaC"/> *Dry aging of meat at {{convert|0|to|2|C|F}}.<ref name="LAR"/> *Velveting *Sodium bicarbonate<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tenderizing Meat with a Baking Soda Solution |url=https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6707-tenderizing-meat-with-a-baking-soda-solution |website=Cook's Illustrated}}</ref>
===Research=== Efforts have been made since at least 1970 to use explosives to tenderize meat and a company was founded to try to commercialize the process; as of 2011 it was not yet scalable.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Abrahams|first1=Marc|title=Best way to tenderise meat? An underwater explosion|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/dec/05/improbable-research-explosive-tenderise-meat|work=The Guardian|date=5 December 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{PPTlink|[http://acbs.cals.arizona.edu/bqa/PowerPoint/Beef_Day_09/Meat_Tenderness.ppt Improving Meat Tenderness] by John Marchello and Ron Allen|5 MB}}
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Category:Culinary terminology Category:Meat
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