Department of Animal Science, Institute Agro Dijon, Dijon 21079, France.
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy.
J Anim Sci. 2024 Jan 3;102. doi: 10.1093/jas/skae192.
Japanese black Wagyu cattle are renowned for producing some of the world's most highly valued and recognized beef with exceptional marbling. Therefore, the primary focus of genetic selection for Wagyu cattle has historically been on meat quality, particularly achieving high marbling levels. However, even when the price of the final product is high, production costs also remain high, especially considering that most of the feed has to be imported. The objective of this study was to evaluate phenotypic relationships between feed efficiency, specifically residual feed intake (RFI), as the most utilized efficiency index in cattle, and various meat quality parameters in Japanese black cattle in order to determine if a common phenotypic selection for these parameters could be feasible. For this, a total of 39 Wagyu cattle were evaluated for feed efficiency over their entire fattening period (900 d), with a focus on RFI as a key indicator. Animals were fed high-starch diets with vitamin A deprivation to achieve the desired marbling. Results revealed positive correlations between feed efficiency and meat quality in Wagyu cattle. Specifically, animals with higher feed efficiency exhibited superior meat quality traits, including firmness, marbling, and overall meat rating. When comparing the 20 most extreme RFI individuals (10 most and 10 least efficient), we observed that efficient RFI animals showed increased marbling levels (+13.2%, P = 0.05) and ranking quality (+12%, P = 0.06) of the meat. In conclusion, this research contributes to understanding the interplay between feed efficiency and meat quality in Japanese black Wagyu cattle. Phenotypic correlations observed suggest the possibility of incorporating RFI criteria into genetic selection programs without compromising the prized meat quality traits of Wagyu beef.
日本黑毛和牛以生产世界上最具价值和认可的牛肉而闻名，其肉质具有出色的大理石花纹。因此，和牛的遗传选择历来主要集中在肉质质量上，特别是实现高大理石花纹水平。然而，即使最终产品的价格很高，生产成本仍然很高，特别是考虑到大部分饲料都需要进口。本研究的目的是评估饲料效率（特别是残留饲料摄入量（RFI））与日本黑牛各种肉质参数之间的表型关系，以确定是否可以对这些参数进行共同的表型选择。为此，总共评估了 39 头和牛在整个育肥期（900 天）的饲料效率，重点是 RFI 作为关键指标。动物被喂食高淀粉饮食，并缺乏维生素 A，以达到所需的大理石花纹。结果表明，和牛的饲料效率与肉质之间存在正相关关系。具体而言，具有较高饲料效率的动物表现出更好的肉质特性，包括硬度、大理石花纹和整体肉质评分。当比较 20 个最极端的 RFI 个体（10 个最高和 10 个最低效率）时，我们观察到高效 RFI 动物的大理石花纹水平增加（+13.2%，P=0.05）和等级质量（+12%，P=0.06）。总之，这项研究有助于了解日本黑毛和牛饲料效率和肉质之间的相互作用。观察到的表型相关性表明，可以在不影响和牛牛肉宝贵肉质特性的情况下，将 RFI 标准纳入遗传选择计划。
