The regulation of site and rate of fat deposition in cattle is not well defined. The study objective was to investigate adipogenic differentiation state-specific gene expression in feedlot cattle (>75% Angus; <25% Simmental parentage) of varying adipose accretion patterns. Four groups of 4 steers were selected from a group of 80 steers via ultrasound to have low backfat-low intramuscular fat (L...

Intrinsic quality attributes of beef, and especially its tenderness, depend not only on post-mortem factors associated with meat ageing, but also on muscle characteristics of live animals, which themselves depend on genetic, nutritional and rearing factors. Different breeds or different genotypes of the same breed mainly differ by the characteristics of their connective tissue (content and solu...

Studies have shown that intramuscular adipogenesis and fibrogenesis may concomitantly occur in skeletal muscle of beef cattle. Thus, we hypothesized that the discrepancy of intramuscular fat content in beef from Nellore and Angus was associated with differences in intramuscular adipogenesis and fibrogenesis during the finishing phase. To test our hypothesis, longissimus muscle samples of Nellor...

Intramuscular fat content or marbling represents a valuable beef quality trait and is an important determinant of palatability due to its contribution to juiciness and flavour. Meat which has little marbling may be dry and flavourless. Higher levels of intramuscular fat have been associated with increased tenderness, juiciness and flavour of beef (Thompson 2004). Whereas this feature is highly ...

Stressors can be psychological (restraint, handling, or novelty) or physical (hunger, thirst, fatigue, injury, or thermal extremes) (Grandin, 1997). Temperament has been associated with stress responsiveness in which higher concentrations of cortisol have been correlated with temperament of cattle (Curley et al., 2006; King et al., 2006). In addition, Smith and Grandin (1999) reported that appr...

The objective of the study was to determine the quality and fatty acid profiles of mutton cuts purchased from rural and urban localities in South Africa. Five hundred and ten samples were collected in four seasons from both rural and urban shops and butcheries. Samples were immediately transported to the laboratory in cooler boxes with ice where the following physico-chemical characteristics of...

Repeatability of ultrasound-predicted percentage intramuscular fat was studied using observations from 144 head of cattle. Animals were scanned at an average age of 433-d by a certified technician. Each animal was scanned five times using two Aloka 500V machines. Percent intramuscular fat was then predicted by placing a box at two different positions within an image. Overall standard deviation ...

This work was designed to study the effects of carcass maturity on meat quality characteristics and intramuscular connective tissue of beef semitendinosus muscle from Chinese native Yellow steers. Chemical determinations, histological and mechanical measurements were performed on the raw and cooked meat at 4 days post mortem. In raw meat, intramuscular fat, collagen solubility, mechanical stren...

The effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation, and pork quality were investigated. Pigs (n = 20) were fed a diet containing 0, 1, 2.5, or 5% CLA for 4 wk and slaughtered at 105 kg. The longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle was collected at 24 h postmortem. Pork loin chops (3 cm thick) were packaged aerobically and stored at 4 degrees C for 7 ...