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Potential of in-plant intramuscular fat predictions to enable sheep breeders to incorporate consumer preferences in breeding programmes

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posted on 2023-05-03, 22:09 authored by Patricia Johnson, John McEwanJohn McEwan, Sharon HickeySharon Hickey, Ken Dodds, Sam HitchmanSam Hitchman, Michael AgnewMichael Agnew, Wendy BainWendy Bain, Sheryl-Anne Newman, Natalie Pickering, Cameron CraigieCameron Craigie, Shannon ClarkeShannon Clarke
The inclusion of eating quality traits in sheep genetic improvement programmes is desirable. Intramuscular fat (IMF) plays a key role in ensuring consumer satisfaction when eating lamb, but genetic progress for IMF is constrained by a lack of routine data collection. This study investigated the potential for IMF predictor traits to substitute for measured IMF in genetic improvement programmes. Carcass and predicted IMF (near-infrared estimated IMF and marbling score) data were available on 10,113 New Zealand lambs, 1678 of which also had measured chemical IMF on a slice of M. longissimus lumborum on which the predictions of IMF had been made. Genetic antagonisms were observed between carcass lean traits and IMF. The genetic correlation between the predictors and measured IMF approached one, indicating that predictors of IMF can be used in genetic improvement programmes. Through using selection indexes, simultaneous increases in IMF and the existing terminal selection index are possible, provided all traits are measured. This study highlights the importance and potential of predicted IMF to achieve genetic improvement in traits of importance to consumers.

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Rights statement

© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc-nd/4.0/)

Language

  • English

Does this contain Māori information or data?

  • No

Publisher

Elsevier

Journal title

Meat Science

ISSN

0309-1740

Citation

Johnson, P. L., McEwan, J. C., Hickey, S. M., Dodds, K. G., Hitchman, S., Agnew, M. P., Bain, W. E., Newman, S.-A. N., Pickering, N. K., Craigie, C. R., & Clarke, S. M. (2023). Potential of in-plant intramuscular fat predictions to enable sheep breeders to incorporate consumer preferences in breeding programmes. Meat Science, 199, 109140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2023.109140

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