Schematic figures illustrating the treatment allocation (aged (−1.5 °C)/frozen (−18 °C) treatments and freezing rates (fast and slow)) within both loins (left/right) from a carcass. Treatments: 1) A4 — ageing for 4 weeks, 2) A4F2 — aged 4 weeks/frozen2 weeks, 3) A3F2 — aged 3 weeks/frozen 2 weeks, and 4) F2 — frozen at 1 day post mortem(non-aged control). All frozen loins were thawed overnight at 3 °C prior to being removed from the vacuum package for further analyses. Freezing rate: the beef samples assigned to fast freezing were placed in a calcium chloride immersion tank operated at −17 to −18 °C, while the samples assigned to slow freezing were placed in a conventional air freezer (−18 °C).