Genomic Analyses for Palatability of Beef

Tenderness, juiciness and flavor are the major determinants of beef palatability and are often used to measure eating satisfaction. Eating satisfaction is of great interest to the beef industry as improving these traits should lead to increased beef demand. The objectives of this study were to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with palatability of beef. Samples of LM from 1,720 Angus cattle were analyzed by a trained sensory panel for tenderness, juiciness, connective tissue and beef flavor intensity. Eight trained panelists evaluated samples in duplicate for overall tenderness, sustained juiciness and connective tissue using an 8-point scale and for cooked beef flavor intensity using a 3-point scale. The average score of all panelists for each animal was used in analysis. The Bayes-B statistical model was utilized to perform a genome wide association study to estimate effects between 54k SNP genotypes and each phenotype. Additive SNP effects explained 28.6% of the variation in panel tenderness, 5% in juiciness, 22% in connective tissue, and 13.3% in beef intensity flavor. Further investigations are needed to identify causal variants harbored within the identified genomic regions to create new opportunities for identification of animals with desirable eating quality attributes.