Palatability of high-quality New Zealand grass-finished and American grain-finished beef strip steaks

The objective of this study was to evaluate palatability of strip loin steaks from grass- and grain-fed beef across five United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) quality grades and three wet aging periods. Beef strip loins (N = 200; 20 per USDA quality grade/fed cattle type) representing five USDA quality grades [USDA Prime, Top Choice (Average and High Choice), Low Choice, Select and Standard] and two fed cattle types [New Zealand grass-finished and United States (U.S.) grain-finished] were used in the study. Each strip loin was equally portioned into thirds and randomly assigned to one of three wet aging periods (7 d, 21 d or 42 d). Consumer panelists (N = 600; 120/location: Texas, California, Florida, Kansas, and Pennsylvania) evaluated eight grilled beef steak samples for palatability traits, acceptability, and eating quality. All palatability traits were impacted by the interaction of diet × quality grade (P < 0.05). Although similar (P > 0.05) to grass-fed Prime steaks for juiciness, tenderness and overall liking, grain-fed Prime steaks rated greater (P < 0.05) than all other grass- and grain-finished treatments for all palatability attributes. Grass-finished Top Choice, Low Choice, and Standard steaks were rated greater (P < 0.05) than the respective grain-finished quality grades for juiciness and tenderness. Grain-finished Standard steaks rated lower (P < 0.05) than all other grass- and grain-finished treatments for juiciness, tenderness, and overall liking; but were similar (P > 0.05) to grass-finished Standard steaks for flavor liking. Our results indicate beef strip loin steaks of similar quality grades from grass-finished New Zealand cattle produce similar eating experiences when compared to those from U.S. grain-finished beef, even following extended post-mortem aging. This indicates improved palatability for consumers based on marbling without respect to grass- or grain-finishing diets.