Table 2.

Estimated genetic correlations between post-mortem muscle characteristics and meat quality traits.

Meat traits1	Lightness (L*)	Redness (a*)	Yellowness (b*)	Drip Loss	Thawing-cooking loss	Warner Bratzler shear force
Lactate	0.28 ± 0.16	0.36** ± 0.08	0.41** ± 0.11	0.54** ± 0.04	0.20 ± 0.10	0.36** ± 0.07
pH15	-0.52 ** ± 0.10	-0.02 ± 0.15	-0.16 ± 0.18	-0.55** ± 0.10	-0.19 ± 0.10	-0.24 ± 0.14
Glycolytic Potential	0.52** ± 0.07	0.51** ± 0.11	0.60** ± 0.10	0.78** ± 0.04	0.49** ± 0.10	0.52** ± 0.05
pHu	-0.65** ± 0.11	-0.35** ± 0.13	-0.54** ± 0.11	-0.89** ± 0.05	-0.80** ± 0.10	-0.81** ± 0.06

¹ Lactate = Lactate concentration 15 min post-slaughter; pH15 = pH measured 15 min post-slaughter; pHu = Ultimate pH.

** Genetic correlation is significantly different from zero (p < 0.01).