Genetic parameters of carcass and meat quality traits of double muscled Piemontese cattle

Genetic parameters of meat quality (MQ) were estimated on Longissimus thoracis muscle of 1208 Piemontese young bulls, progeny of 109 AI sires. Carcass weight (CW), conformation (EUS) and pH (pH24h) were recorded at 24 h and lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), pH (pH8d), drip loss (DL), cooking loss (CL) and shear force (SF) were assessed. The heritability (h2) of pH24h was very low (0.06), but h2 of pH8d was markedly higher (0.42). Heritability was 0.32, 0.33, and, 0.14, for L*, a* and b*, respectively, whereas was 0.24, 0.07 and 0.14, for DL, CL, and SF, respectively. The two pH measures showed opposite genetic relationships with color measures. Genetic correlations of DL and CL were positive with L* and b* and negative with a*. Genetic correlations between carcass traits and MQ suggest that animals with superior growth potential tend to exhibit reduced EUS scores and pale meat with lower tenderness and water holding capacity. Conversely, improvement of EUS score through selection would lead to light, bright, and tender meat with enhanced water holding capacity.