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

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 (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 ± 0.04 and h(2 )= 0.16 ± 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 ± 0.10) was found between pH(20 )and lightness (L*) of breast meat, both traits corresponding to PSE indicators. The pH(20 )in the thigh muscle had a moderate heritability (h(2 )= 0.20 ± 0.07) and was partially genetically related to pH(20 )in the breast muscle (r(g )= 0.45 ± 0.17). Body weight and breast yield were positively correlated with both initial and ultimate pH and negatively with the lightness of breast meat.