Heritability of some meat quality traits in ducks
The aim of the study was to estimate the heritability coefficients of fourteen meat quality traits in ducks. The study was conducted on 387 individuals of an F2 cross of Polish and French Pekin ducks. The following traits were examined in the breast (BM) and leg (LM) muscles: electrical conductivity at 15 minutes post-slaughter (BMEC15 and LMEC15), pH at 24 hours post-slaughter (BMpH24 and LMpH24), thermal drip (TDBM and TDLM) and lightness (L*) (LBM and LLM). Additionally, sensory traits were evaluated in the raw breast (BM) and leg (LM) muscles: colour (CRMB and CRLM), odour (ORBM and ORLM) and general appearance (GARBM and GARLM). Estimators of the variance components were obtained by the Restricted Maximum Likelihood method, using ASReml computer software. In general, varied heritability estimates were obtained: 0.01 (BMEC15), 0.16 (LMEC15), 0.01 (BMpH24), 0.06 (LMpH24), 0.07 (TDBM), 0.06 (TDLM), 0.08 (LBM), 0.07 (LLM), 0.08 (CRBM), 0.73 (CRLM), 0.11 (ORBM), 0.92 (ORLM), 0.24 (GARBM), and 0.40 (GARLM).