Assessment of muscle Longissimus thoracis et lumborum marbling by image analysis and relationships between meat quality parameters.

ABSTRACT: The intramuscular fat (IMF), recognized by the consumer as marbling, is an important meat quality trait. The objective of this study was to validate a new method of beef marbling evaluation by image analysis. The new assessment was compared with two known marbling measurements: chemical IMF and USDA scores. Moreover, the relationship between marbling measurements and other meat quality parameters was investigated. Samples of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscle were obtained from carcasses of 39 Italian crossbred heifers and 62 Angus bred heifers, that underwent two different dietary treatments. The use of various breeds and diets was chosen to obtain different intramuscular fat levels, in order to validate the use of Image J software for the analysis of different type of beef mea

SUBMITTER: Giaretta E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6104982 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature