Carcass Traits and Tenderness of Grass-fed Beef from Subtropical Pastures in Hawaii

Introduction The “Grass-fed beef ” label indicates meat that is produced by feeding forages from start to finish without any grain supplementation (USDA-AMS 2007). Many healthful aspects of grass-fed beef have been identified, including lower total fat content and higher content of omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), and antioxidants as compared to feedlot-finished beef (Razminowicz et al. 2006, Faucitano et al. 2008). The healthy nutritional profile of grass-fed beef, along with the perception that grass-finishing promotes animal well-being and environmental sustainability, has probably contributed to the recent increase in the demand for grass-fed beef. Even though beef cattle production is the third largest agricultural commodity in Hawaii, only 20-30% of weaned calves are locally raised for slaughter with the majority being shipped to the mainland USA due to the high cost of shipping concentrates feed to Hawaiian Islands. Since year-round maintenance of pasture is possible in some regions of Hawaii due to the subtropical climate, grass-fed beef production appears to be a viable alternative to shipping out weaned calves. For the development of a sustainable grass-fed beef industry, we contended that supplying consistent high quality of grass-fed beef is an important element in light of some studies reporting that palatability of grass-fed beef is inconsistent, often leading to consumer dissatisfaction with this product (Van Elswyk and McNeill 2014). Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the carcass and meat tenderness characteristics of Hawaii grass-fed beef in an effort to improve meat quality characteristics of Hawaii grass-fed beef.