Tandem mass tag labeling to assess proteome differences between intermediate and very tender beef steaks.

Among all the eating quality attributes of beef, tenderness is considered an essential factor influencing consumers' overall satisfaction and future purchasing decisions. However, managing and predicting tenderness of meat products is challenging for the meat industry, as many factors can influence this attribute. The goal of this research was to examine variations in protein abundance between two categories of beef strip steaks varying in tenderness, with the intention to identify proteins related to beef tenderness/toughness. Overall, the results from this study suggest that tender steaks experienced greater protein degradation during aging than tougher steaks, which likely contributed to their improved tenderness. Furthermore, a greater abundance of connective tissue proteins, which are associated with meat toughness, was observed in the tougher steaks. Our results collectively indicate that the difference in tenderness between the two groups of steaks may be due to multiple proteins involved in several biological processes.