Table 1.
Descriptive statistics and heritability estimates for body weight, body composition, muscle characteristics and meat quality traits.
| Traits | N | Mean ± SD | Min. | Max. | h2 ± SE |
| Growth and body composition | |||||
| Body weight at 6 weeks (g) | 592 | 2141 ± 326 | 1234 | 3028 | 0.49 ± 0.06 |
| Weight gain from 4 to 6 weeks (g) | 596 | 1040 ± 229 | 357 | 1646 | 0.30 ± 0.05 |
| Pectoralis major muscle weight (g) | 578 | 148.6 ± 28.4 | 53.0 | 231.9 | 0.38 ± 0.06 |
| Breast muscle yield (%) | 580 | 17.8 ± 1.5 | 11.4 | 22.4 | 0.30 ± 0.04 |
| Abdominal fat (%) | 583 | 2.6 ± 0.6 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 0.48 ± 0.06 |
| Muscle characteristics | |||||
| Fiber Cross Section Area (μm2) | 592 | 1831 ± 426 | 630 | 3157 | 0.41 ± 0.06 |
| Lactate (μmol/g muscle) | 596 | 33.1 ± 10.0 | 6.3 | 56.9 | 0.27 ± 0.05 |
| pH 15 min post-mortem (pH15) | 599 | 6.45 ± 0.13 | 6.02 | 6.79 | 0.30 ± 0.05 |
| Glycolytic Potential (μmol/g muscle) | 591 | 108.0 ± 17.7 | 70.0 | 167.2 | 0.43 ± 0.05 |
| Ultimate pH (pHu) | 587 | 5.64 ± 0.12 | 5.35 | 6.04 | 0.34 ± 0.06 |
| Meat quality traits | |||||
| Lightness (L*) | 590 | 54.9 ± 3.0 | 42.6 | 63.7 | 0.35 ± 0.05 |
| Redness (a*) | 587 | -0.8 ± 0.7 | -2.8 | 1.3 | 0.25 ± 0.05 |
| Yellowness (b*) | 590 | 11.8 ± 1.6 | 8.2 | 16.8 | 0.31 ± 0.06 |
| Drip loss (DL, %) | 589 | 1.6 ± 1.0 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 0.26 ± 0.04 |
| Thawing-cooking loss (TCL, %) | 581 | 14.6 ± 4.8 | 3.1 | 28.6 | 0.35 ± 0.05 |
| Warner Bratzler shear force (WB, N/cm2) | 570 | 14.5 ± 3.0 | 5.9 | 25.5 | 0.34 ± 0.05 |