Logo image
Back
Multivariate Relationships Between Carcass, Muscle, and Beef Eating Quality Traits in Limousine Cull Cows
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Multivariate Relationships Between Carcass, Muscle, and Beef Eating Quality Traits in Limousine Cull Cows

Yafang Cui, Alix Neveu, Moise Kombolo, Jingjing Liu, Isabelle Legrand, Faustine Noël, Pascal Faure, David Pethick, Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury and Jean-François Hocquette
Meat and muscle biology, Vol.10(1), pp.1-14
2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22175/mmb.22197
pdf
Published1.23 MBDownloadView
Open Access CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Adopting a grading scheme inspired by the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) system is considered an effective way to strengthen consumer confidence in beef across Europe. However, differences between Europe and Australia in cattle breeds, production systems, and consumer dietary habits require a re-examination of the links among carcass and muscle traits, as well as beef eating qualities. In France, cull cows constitute a major beef source, with Limousine cattle being one of the predominant breeds. Accordingly, this study evaluated 102 French Limousine cull cows to investigate the relationships among carcass, muscles, and beef eating quality traits, and to explore the predictive value of key biological indicators for beef palatability. A comprehensive dataset integrating carcass grading traits assessed using the EUROP grid and the MSA protocol, muscle physicochemical measurements, and consumer sensory scores of beef was analyzed using correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and linear mixed-effects modelling. In older Limousine cull cows, marbling showed minimal contribution to eating quality prediction. Instead, traits related to muscle development, including age, carcass conformation, and compression force, played a dominant role in determining eating quality (P < 0.05). Model performance differed between consumer-evaluated MSA grade groups, defined as high grade (MSA grade ≥ 3) and low grade (MSA grade < 3). High-MSA grade samples exhibited more comprehensive biological features and achieved higher predictive accuracy, whereas low-MSA grade samples showed reduced model performance, likely due to narrower sensory variation and higher trait homogenization. These findings indicate that predictors of beef eating quality depend on animal type and age. In older cull cows, predictors of eating quality are likely to be more specific, particularly those related to muscle structure and maturity, at least in part. Overall, these findings provide practical guidance for the beef industry in predicting beef eating quality and improving grading systems for cull cows.

Details

Metrics

1 Record Views
Logo image