A comparison of fatty acid percentages and mass, sensory attributes, and volatile aroma compounds for segregating beef quality grades

We hypothesized that combining sensory flavor attributes, volatile aroma compounds (VAC), and fatty acid composition would better separate beef quality grades than fatty acid composition alone. Select, Choice, Prime, and Grass-fed ribeye rolls (n = 6 per group) were purchased from a local distributor, so production conditions or cattle type were unknown. Select cooked beef steaks ranked lowest for Beef Flavor, Bloody/Serumy, Brown/Roasted, and Umami (P ≤ 0.048). Prime steaks had greater values than other steak types for the VAC 2-methyl-butanal, 2-methyl-propanal (2MP), 3-methyl-butanal (3MB), and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (3H2B) (P ≤ 0.025). There was a significant, positive correlation of 3MB and 3H2B with Beef Flavor (P ≤ 0.05), and 2MB, 3MB, and 2MP were significantly, positively correlated with Brown/Roasted (P ≤ 0.05). Principal component analysis (PCA) that included fatty acid percentages indicated that all positive flavor attributes clustered with 2MP and 3H2P, Grass-fed, and Prime. A PCA analysis that included mg fatty acid/100 g muscle (i.e., fatty acid mass) segregated all positive flavor attributes and all fatty acids with Grass-fed and Prime steaks, but VAC were not in the same quadrant. Fatty acid percentages, sensory attributes, and VAC were analyzed by partial least squares regression discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and Grass-fed and Select clustered closely and Prime and Choice clustered separately. Analysis by PLS-DA fatty acid mass, sensory attributes, and VAC indicated that all beef types were distinctly separated. We conclude that including fatty acid composition with sensory attributes and VAC better separates beef quality types than fatty acid composition alone.