2.4.3 Shear force
The meat tenderness of LT muscle was objectively measured by Volodkevich bite jaw shear force test based on the mechanical force required to shear the muscle fibers of a cooked meat sample. The textural assessment of cooked meat tenderness was carried out using the TA.HD plus® texture analyzer (Stable Micro System, Surrey, UK). The entire sample preparation was carried out according to the procedures described by Sazili et al. (2005). Muscle chops for shear force determination were thawed overnight at 4 °C. Chops were cooked to an internal temperature of 78 °C, and cooking was maintained for a further 10 min before cooling them overnight at 4 °C. At least, 3 blocks (1 cm height, 1 cm width and 2 cm length) were removed from each cooked sample following as close to the longitudinal orientation of the muscle fibers as possible, and sheared in the center across the muscle fibers.