Table 1. Carcass traits of Hanwoo steers as affected by back-fat thickness and quality grades

Traits QG1+ QG1 SEM F-value BK1 BK2 BK3 SEM F-value
Number 26.00 22.00 8.00 34.00 8.00
Back-fat (mm) 14.82 13.62 4.84 0.72 7.50c 14.00b 22.13a 4.92 70.61***
Rib eye (cm2) 88.11 87.05 9.14 0.16 85.88 88.47 84.50 9.20 0.71
Carcass weight (kg) 428.26 413.00 47.50 1.23 401.25b 422.06ab 445.25a 47.38 1.79
Yield index1) 63.33 64.30 3.65 0.84 68.26a 64.03b 57.88c 3.68 50.62***
Yield grade2) 2.44 2.10 0.71 2.95 1.25c 2.44b 3.00a 0.72 26.29***
Maturity3) 2.19 2.14 0.38 0.15 2.25 2.16 2.13 0.38 0.25
Marbling4) 6.41a 4.57b 1.05 157.07*** 4.75b 5.78a 5.63a 1.05 3.24*
Meat color5) 4.89 5.14 0.62 2.03 5.38 4.94 5.00 0.64 1.56
Fat color6) 2.96 3.05 0.29 0.99 3.13 2.97 3.00 0.29 0.91
Texture7) 1.04 1.14 0.28 1.72 1.25 1.06 1.13 0.31 1.21
Month 29.33 29.10 1.65 0.24 28.88 29.47 28.88 1.61 0.72
Yield index = [68.184 − {0.625 × Back-fat thickness (mm)}] + {0.130 × Rib eye area (cm2)} − {0.024 × Carcass weight (kg)} + 3.23.
Yield grade was scored as: Yield grade 1 means the value of yield index ≥67.20; yield grade 2 means the value of yield index between 63.30 to 67.20, and yield grade 3 means the value of yield index ≤63.30.
Maturity ranges from youthful to mature.
Marbling grade ranges from 1 to 9 (from trace to plentiful).
Meat color ranges from 1 to 7 (from light cherry red to dark red).
Fat color ranges from 1 to 7 (from white to yellow).
Texture ranges from 1 to 5 (from fine to coarse).
Signifies that different superscripts in the same row are significantly different.
p<0.05,
p<0.001.
QG1+, quality grade1+; QG1, quality grade1; BK1, back-fat thickness <10 mm; BK2, back-fat thickness 10 to 19 mm; BK3, back-fat thickness ≥19 mm.