Table 1. Physicochemical properties of Hanwoo steer, heifer, and cow striploins

Variables	Steer	Heifer	Cow	p-value
pH	5.56 ± 0.021)	5.51 ± 0.04	5.63 ± 0.09	0.092
WHC (%)	69.42 ± 3.08	73.17 ± 0.16	79.78 ± 7.49	0.227
Shear force (kgf)	4.09 ± 0.23c	3.45 ± 0.15b	2.50 ± 0.17a	< 0.001
Color
Lightness (L*)	40.44 ± 0.24b	40.04 ± 0.81b	33.93 ± 1.36a	< 0.001
Redness (a*)	24.21 ± 1.04b	24.16 ± 1.29b	20.71 ± 0.82a	0.011
Yellowness (b*)	9.05 ± 0.64b	8.80 ± 0.65b	5.96 ± 0.45a	0.001
Cooking loss (%)	27.81 ± 1.76c	24.41 ± 1.01b	20.04 ± 0.75a	0.001
Collagen
Soluble collagen (mg/100 g)	2.54 ± 0.02b	3.63 ± 0.02c	2.47 ± 0.08a	< 0.001
Insoluble collagen (mg/100 g)	15.74 ± 0.08ab	14.67 ± 0.91a	18.12 ± 0.36b	0.037
Collagen solubility (%)	13.89 ± 0.23a	19.84 ± 2.04b	11.99 ± 0.49a	< 0.001
Chondroitin (%)	1.19 ± 0.24b	0.22 ± 0.09a	0.29 ± 0.06a	0.014

The results are expressed as mean ± SD.
Different superscripts within the same row differ significantly (p < 0.05).
WHC, water holding capacity.