Carcass and meat palatability breed differences and heterosis effects in an Angus–Brahman multibreed population

Additive genetic Angus–Brahman differences, heterosis effects, and least squares means for six carcass and six meat palatability traits were estimated using data from 1367 steers from the Angus–Brahman multibreed herd of the University of Florida collected from 1989 to 2009. Brahman carcasses had higher dressing percent (P < 0.0001), lower marbling (P < 0.0001), smaller ribeye area (P < 0.0001), and less fat over the ribeye (P < 0.0001) than Angus carcasses. Brahman beef was less tender (P < 0.0001), had more connective tissue (P < 0.0001), and it was less juicy (P < 0.001) than Angus beef. Heterosis increased hot carcass weight (P < 0.0001), dressing percent (P < 0.017), ribeye area (P < 0.0001), fat over the ribeye (P < 0.0001), and kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (P < 0.01) in Angus–Brahman crossbred steers. Results indicated that crossbred animals with up to 50% Brahman showed limited negative impact on meat quality while maximizing meat yield due to heterosis.