Genomic regions in Australian cattle associated with consumer satisfaction of beef

Consumer satisfaction influences purchasing habits and ultimately the premiums consumers are willing to pay for beef. There are four criteria currently used to describe consumer satisfaction: tenderness, juiciness, flavour and overall liking. While previous studies have focused on the traits associated with consumer satisfaction such as marbling and shear force, few have analysed consumer traits directly. The aim of this study was to determine if genomic regions affecting consumer satisfaction could be discovered using a genome-wide association study. Phenotypic data including consumer sensory scores were collected for 1,924 animals from a breed diverse population of cattle genotyped for a minimum of 50k single nucleotide polymorphisms. A single region linked to the CAST gene on chromosome 7 (BTA7) was associated with tenderness. The CAST gene is responsible for muscle proteolysis after slaughter and has been well documented as impacting on the mechanical tenderness measurement of Warner-Bratzler shear force.