Image analysis traits of multiple muscles and intermuscular/subcutaneous fat influence Japanese Black beef carcass price and genetic parameters.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to investigate the relationship between carcass unit price per 1 kg (UP) and multiple muscles and intermuscular fat (IF)/subcutaneous fat of beef carcasses using image analysis of cross-section images for Wagyu beef cattle in Japan, and to estimate their genetic parameters.

Methods: The carcasses used in this study were 1,807 Japanese Black (Wagyu) cattle (1,216 steers and 591 heifers). An analysis of variance was conducted with UP as the dependent variable and market date, age in months, sex, and image analysis traits (IAT) as fixed effects, and standard partial regression coefficients were calculated for each IAT on UP.

Comparison of Marbling Fleck Characteristics and Objective Tenderness Parameters with Different Marbling Coarseness within Muscle of High-marbled Hanwoo Steer.

It is important to understand how marbling traits and tenderness differ among beef steaks from the carcass grading site and other regions within the (LT) muscle, as these characteristics are closely associated with consumer acceptability and willingness to purchase. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the marbling fleck traits and objective tenderness parameters in the groups classified by the coarseness index (CI) of marbling fleck (high and low groups) at the carcass grading site (13 thoracic vertebra; 13T) and three different locations (13T, 9T, and 6T) within the LT muscle from well-marbled (marbling score 7 to 9) Hanwoo steer. Image analysis showed that the longitudinal locations had a significant effect on marbling fleck traits.

The Japanese Wagyu beef industry: current situation and future prospects - A review.

In Japan, Wagyu cattle include four Japanese breeds; Black, Brown, Shorthorn, and Polled. Today, the renowned brand name Wagyu includes not only cattle produced in Japan, but also cattle produced in countries such as Australia and the United States. In recent years, the intramuscular fat percentage in beef (longissimus muscle) from Japanese Black cattle has increased to be greater than 30%.

Relationships between marbling measures across principal muscles.

As marbling is a principal input into many grading systems it is important to have an accurate and reliable measurement procedure. This paper compares three approaches to measuring marbling: trained personnel, near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and image analysis. One 25mm slice of meat was utilised from up to 12 cuts from 48 carcasses processed in Poland and France.

Genetic analysis of the rates of conception using a longitudinal threshold model with random regression in dairy crossbreeding within a tropical environment.

This study was designed to: (i) estimate genetic parameters and breeding values for conception rates (CR) using the repeatability threshold model (RP-THM) and random regression threshold models (RR-THM); and (ii) compare covariance functions for modeling the additive genetic (AG) and permanent environmental (PE) effects in the RR-THM. The CR was defined as the outcome of an insemination. A data set of 130 592 first-lactation insemination records of 55 789 Thai dairy cows, calving between 1996 and 2011, was used in the analyses.

Genetic relationships of fertility traits with test-day milk yield and fat-to-protein ratio in tropical smallholder dairy farms.

The test-day milk fat-to-protein ratio (TD-FPR) could serve as a measure of energy balance status and might be used as a criterion to improve metabolic stability and fertility through genetic selection. Therefore, genetic parameters for fertility traits, test-day milk yield (TD-MY) and TD-FPR, as well as, their relationships during different stages of lactation, were estimated on data collected from 25 968 primiparous Thai dairy crossbred cows. Gibbs sampling algorithms were implemented to obtain (co)variance components using both univariate linear and threshold animal models and bivariate linear-linear and linear-threshold animal models with random regression.

Species and muscle differences in L-carnitine levels in skeletal muscles based on a new simple assay.

We have adapted the enzymatic method [Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 176 (3) (1991) 1617] for the safe and rapid assay of L-carnitine (L-CA) in skeletal muscle using a microplate reader. The concentration of L-CA in fresh semitendinosus muscle from broiler chicken, pig, beef cattle, deer, horse and goat muscle were 0.69, 1.