Beef marbling: Association with carcass traits and meat tenderness

Beef marbling is not routinely surveyed in Europe. It has been proven that a higher intramuscular fat (IMF) is associated with a higher consumer acceptence (tenderness, juiciness, taste) of beef. In the present paper, results on the influencing factors and correlations between IMF and slaughter performance traits of Austrian beef are presented. In the statistical analysis of 11 fattening trials, category, trial, slaughter age, fatness score and kidney fat percentage remained as significant effects in the model. Additionally, scatterplots and correlations of IMF and meat tenderness are presented. Weak phenotypic correlations (r = +/- 0.23 to +/- 0.41) were found between IMF and shear force as as well as tenderness according to panel.

Automated summary

This paper presents results on the influencing factors and correlations between intramuscular fat (IMF) and slaughter performance traits of Austrian beef, emphasizing the importance of IMF for beef tenderness and consumer acceptence.