Chew Count as a Measure of Tenderness of Pork Loins with Various Degrees of Marbling ^a

Abstract

SUMMARY Some tasters were more repeatable than others in making chew counts, and were thereby able to discriminate more between loins of differing tenderness. Mean chew counts by six tasters for 36 loins ranged from 25.3 to 47.0, with one exceptional value at 60.0. These showed a high correlation with mean shear values based on 10 shears per loin. On average, an increase of 1 lb in shear value corresponded to an increase of 4 in the chew count in this experiment. Mean chew counts and shear values both showed significant correlations with two measures of marbling fat made on the 36 loins (visual scores and intramuscular fat contents), the less marbled loins being somewhat tougher. On average, an increase of 1% in intramuscular fat corresponded to a decrease of about 1.5 in chew count or 0.4 lb in shear value.