Heritability and genetic correlations of carcass and meat quality traits in Piemontese young bulls

Age at slaughter (AS), carcass weight (CW), carcass daily gain (CDG), conformation (EUS), and rib-eye area (REA) were recorded on 1166 Piemontese young bulls. pH, lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), hue angle (h*), chroma (C*), purge loss (PL), cooking loss (CL) and shear force (WBSF) were assessed on the Longissimus thoracis muscle of the same animals. Heritability of carcass traits ranged from 0.07 (EUS) to 0.32 (CDG), with those of meat quality from 0.12 (PL) to 0.32 (WBSF). Genetically, an increase in AS exerts an unfavourable effect on PL (0.40) and colour traits (L*-0.20, a*-0.32, b* -0.25), whereas CW and CDG have the opposite effect. EUS is correlated favourably with PL (−0.32) and unfavourably with WBSF (0.53), while REA is correlated unfavourably with PL (0.41), CL (0.35), a* (−0.58) and b* (−0.44), and favourably with L* (0.41). Current selection goals of the Piemontese breed can indirectly modify some of the quality traits of beef, particularly colour and tenderness.