Multi-breed and multi-trait co-association analysis of meat tenderness and other meat quality traits in three French beef cattle breeds

Table 1 Description and summary statistics for the 17 traits analyzed in the three breeds

Trait	Acronym	Blonde d’Aquitaine			Charolaise			Limousine
Trait	Acronym	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD
Muscle conformation related traits
Live muscle score (/100)	LMS	981	58.5	10.0	1114	62.0	11.4	1254	59.5	11.5
Carcass muscle score (/18)	CMS	981	10.9	1.4	1114	10.0	1.5	1254	10.9	1.6
Carcass yield (%)	CY	981	65.0	1.5	1113	57.7	1.9	1254	62.0	1.3
Rib eye area (cm²)	RIBE	978	54.5	7.9	1114	53.4	8.9	1252	49.2	6.7
Carcass fatness related traits
Internal cavity fat weight (kg)	CIFW	980	4.9	1.7	1107	8.7	2.2	1253	7.0	2.0
Dissected 6th rib fat (%)	RIB6	981	12.8	2.8	1113	20.4	3.9	1254	17.2	3.0
Velocity of sound^a (10⁻³s/cm)	VOS	964	6.253	0.017	990	6.302	0.031	1251	6.288	0.023
Meat quality related traits
Warner–Bratzler shear force (N/cm²)	WBSF	977	40.5	11.5	1114	38.1	7.5	1252	41.0	8.4
Tenderness score (/100)	TEND	970	61.4	11.2	1113	62.4	8.4	1241	58.7	8.3
Juiciness score (/100)	JUIC	970	58.0	9.6	1113	60.0	6.6	1241	56.6	8.1
Flavor score (/100)	FLAV	970	75.8	5.5	1113	55.3	5.8	1241	59.6	6.4
Intramuscular lipid content (%)	CS	981	0.56	0.38	1114	1.53	0.86	1254	1.18	0.51
Insoluble collagen content (%)	CI	871	0.25	0.04	1114	0.30	0.05	1254	0.26	0.04
Muscle fiber section mean area (10⁻⁶ mm²)	TAMF	971	2863	594	1101	2921	820	1248	2983	686
Rib eye area/muscle fiber area (10³)	TFIB	968	1989	525	1101	1959	614	1246	1732	449
Muscle lightness	L^a	979	33.1	4.4	1114	34.8	4.6	1253	32.8	4.2

^aAverage reciprocal ultra-sound speeds measured on the back, just behind the shoulder and at the 3rd lumbar [57]

ISSN: 1297-9686