Genetic parameters of meat technological quality traits in a grand-parental commercial line of turkey

Élisabeth Le Bihan-Duval; Cécile Berri; Élisabeth Baéza; Véronique Santé; Thierry Astruc; Hervé Rémignon; Gilles Le Pottier; James Bentley; Catherine Beaumont; Xavier Fernandez

doi:doi:10.1051/gse:2003043

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Volume 35 / No 6 (November-December 2003)

Genet. Sel. Evol., 35 6 (2003) 623-635

Abstract

Free Access

Issue		Genet. Sel. Evol. Volume 35, Number 6, November-December 2003


Page(s)		623 - 635
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/gse:2003043

Genet. Sel. Evol. 35 (2003) 623-635
DOI: 10.1051/gse:2003043

Genetic parameters of meat technological quality traits in a grand-parental commercial line of turkey

Élisabeth Le Bihan-Duval^a, Cécile Berri^a, Élisabeth Baéza^a, Véronique Santé^b, Thierry Astruc^b, Hervé Rémignon^c, Gilles Le Pottier^d, James Bentley^e, Catherine Beaumont^a and Xavier Fernandez^{b, c}

^a Institut national de la recherche agronomique, Station de recherches avicoles, 37380 Nouzilly, France
^b Institut national de la recherche agronomique, Station de recherches sur la viande, Saint-Genès Champanelle, France
^c École nationale supérieure agronomique de Toulouse, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
^d Comité interprofessionnel de la dinde en France, Mordelles, France
^e British United Turkeys, Chester, UK

(Received 18 June 2002; accepted 7 February 2003)

Abstract
Genetic parameters for meat quality traits and their relationships with body weight and breast development were estimated for a total of 420 male turkeys using REML. The birds were slaughtered in a commercial plant and the traits measured included pH at 20 min ( ${\rm pH}_{20}$ ) and 24 h post-mortem (pHu) and colour of the breast and thigh meat. The heritabilities of the rate and the extent of the pH fall in the breast muscle were estimated at $h^{2}=0.21 \pm 0.04$ and $h^{2}= 0.16 \pm 0.04$ , respectively. Heritabilities ranging from 0.10 to 0.32 were obtained for the colour indicators in the breast muscle. A marked negative genetic correlation ( $r_g=-0.80 \pm 0.10$ ) was found between ${\rm pH}_{20}$ and lightness ( L^*) of breast meat, both traits corresponding to PSE indicators. The ${\rm pH}_{20}$ in the thigh muscle had a moderate heritability ( $h^{2}= 0.20 \pm 0.07$ ) and was partially genetically related to ${\rm pH}_{20}$ in the breast muscle ( $r_g= 0.45 \pm 0.17$ ). Body weight and breast yield were positively correlated with both initial and ultimate pH and negatively with the lightness of breast meat.

Key words: turkey / meat quality / pH / colour / genetic parameters

Correspondence and reprints: Élisabeth Le Bihan-Duval lebihan@tours.inra.fr

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2003