Investigating potential causal relationships among carcass and meat quality traits using structural equation model in Nellore cattle

The objective of this study was to investigate potential causal relationships among hot carcass weight (HCW), longissimus muscle area (LMA), backfat thickness (BF), Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and marbling score (MB) traits in Nellore cattle using structural equation models (SEM). The SEM fitted comprises the following links between traits: WBSF → LMA, WBSF → HCW, HCW → LMA, BF → HCW, and BF → MB, where the arrows indicate the causal direction between traits, with structural coefficients posterior means (posterior standard deviation) equal to −0.29 cm²/kg (0.09), 0.43 kg/kg (0.29), 0.10 cm²/kg (0.006), 1.92 kg/mm (0.28), and 0.03 score-grade/mm (0.006), respectively. The final SEM revealed some important putative causal relationships among the traits studied here. The implied causal effects suggest that interventions on meat tenderness and fat content would affect overall growth and muscle deposition. Knowledge regarding potential causal relationships inferred among the traits studied here can have important implications for the genetic selection and management of Nellore cattle for improvement of carcass and meat quality.