Genetics of Marbling in Wagyu Revealed by the Melting Temperature of Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Lipids

Figure 1

distributions of Wagyu carcasses differ by sire. The melting temperature of intramuscular fat samples taken from between the 10th and 11th rib of 126 carcasses of full blood Wagyu steers. All animals were fed the same ration for days. Individual measurements of carcasses are grouped by sire (mean and standard deviation). Animals with either an uncertain sire or a sire with less than 10 progeny are grouped under “other” sires. Progeny of Sire 3 shows considerable scatter, whereas 8/11 of those of Sire 2 are below 37 degrees compared with 1/15 in the case of Sire 1. The difference between Sire 1 and Sire 2 is statistically significant with a chi-square statistic of 12.2 and thus a value < 0.01.