Relationships among carcass quality characteristics between and within carcass quartering sites

Carcass quality characteristics were measured on 511 steers of 4 breeds that were destined for the Japanese market. All steers had carcass measurements taken at the 10th/11th rib interface, while 103 steers had additional measurements made on the same characteristics at the 5th/6th rib interface. Australian marbling score, longissimus muscle area: intramuscular fat percentage, intramuscular water content, Japanese intermuscular fat thickness, Japanese subcutaneous fat thickness, Japanese rib thickness, and meat pH were measured in the study. These measurements allowed the phenotypic relationships between the different carcass quality traits measured at the 10th/11th rib interface to be calculated. Significant positive correlations were observed among measurements of carcass fatness, and significant negative correlations were observed between carcass fatness and carcass water content. Angus and Murray Grey cattle had higher levels of marbling and intramuscular fat than Hereford and Poll Hereford cattle. The data enabled Australian, USDA, and Japanese marbling standards to be compared on the basis of intramuscular fat percentage determined by an ether extraction process. Differences between the same carcass characteristics taken at 5th/6th and 10/11th rib interfaces of the longissimus dorsi were estimated from the 103 steers measured at both sites. Correlations between the rib sites were high for marbling, intramuscular fat, and intramuscular water, but low for longissimus muscle area, intermuscular fat thickness, and pH.