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. 2012 Nov;25(11):1553–1558. doi: 10.5713/ajas.2012.12254

Table 5.

Effects of stocking density on carcass characteristics and meat quality

Item Treatments
G1 G2 G3 G4
Carcass weight (kg) 459±10.5a 425±8.5ab 407±33.7b 424±9.0ab
Quantity traits
 Back fat thickness (mm) 15±1.2ns 14±0.3 13±1.9 13±1.1
 Longissimus muscle area (cm2) 99±5.1ab 104±4.4a 91±0.5c 93±2.7bc
 Meat yield index 63.7±0.8ns 66.2±0.6 64.4±1.4 65.0±1.9
 Yield grade (A, B, C)1 1.7±0.58ns 2.3±0.29 2.0±0.34 2.3±0.25
Quality traits
 Marbling score2 4.3±2.08ns 5.2±0.29 4.1±1.68 3.6±0.75
 Meat color3 5.0±0.00ns 4.8±0.29 5.1±0.19 4.7±0.14
 Fat color4 3.0±0.00ns 3.0±0.00 3.0±0.00 3.0±0.00
 Texture5 1.3±0.58ns 1.2±0.29 1.3±0.58 1.4±0.14
 Maturity6 2.3±0.58ns 2.5±0.00 2.0±0.00 2.0±0.00
 Meat quality grade7 3.0±0.00ns 3.3±0.29 2.8±0.84 2.8±0.25
1

A = 3, B = 2, C = 1.

2

1devoid, 9 = abundant.

3

1 = white, 7 = yellow.

4

1 = dark red, 7 = bright.

5

1 = good, 3 = bad.

6

1 = fine, 3 = coarse.

7

1++ grade = 5, 1+ grade = 4, 1st grade = 3, 2nd grade = 2, 3rd grade = 1.

ns

= Not significant.

a, b

Means in a row with different superscripts are significantly different (p<0.05).