Effect of mixed hay supplementation during fattening on carcass traits and meat quality of Hanwoo steers

Table 3 Carcass traits of Hanwoo steers fed with different supplementary hay

	RS	MH	TH	SEM	P value
Yield traits
Hot carcass weight (kg)	462.00	461.00	454.17	9.64	0.96
Backfat thickness (mm)	15.33	15.33	13.67	0.90	0.78
Ribeye area (cm²)	92.67	95.17	92.67	0.83	0.51
Yield index^c	62.78	63.14	64.02	0.61	0.79
Yield grade^d	2.50	2.33	2.17	0.32	0.73
Quality traits
Marbling score^e	3.17^b	5.39^a	3.67^b	0.35	0.02
Meat color^f	5.00	5.00	5.00	0.00	0.39
Fat color^g	3.00	3.00	3.00	0.00	0.39
Firmness^h	1.83	1.17	1.33	0.10	0.06
Maturityⁱ	2.00	2.00	2.00	0.00	0.39
Quality grade^j	2.50^b	3.60^a	2.67^b	0.16	0.01

RS rice straw, MH mixed hay, TH timothy hay
SEM: standard error of the means
Different superscripts ^a~b in the same row indicate differences among diet groups (P < 0.05)
^c65.834-[0.393 x Backfat thickness (mm)] + [0.088 x Ribeye area (cm²)]-[0.008 x Carcass weight (kg)] + 2.01
^dA grade (yield index ≥69.00) = 3, B grade (66.00 ≤ yield index < 69.00) = 2, C grade (yield index <66.00) = 1
^eMarbling score standard; No.1-No.7 (1 = devoid, 7 = abundant)
^f Meat color standard; No.1-No.7 (1 = brightly cherry red, 7 = extremely dark red)
^gFat color standard; No.1-No.7 (1 = white, 7 = dark yellow)
^hFirmness score; 1–3 (1 = soft, 3 = firm)
ⁱMaturity score; 1–3 (1 = youthful, 3 = mature)
^j1⁺⁺ grade = 5, 1⁺ grade = 4, 1 grade = 3, 2 grade = 2, 3 grade = 1