Intramuscular fat content in the masseter muscle (musculus masseter) of cattle depending on sex and age

The objective of the experiment was to determine the amount of intramuscular fat (IMF) in the masseter muscle (musculus masseter) of slaughter cattle depending on sex and age. Subjects were 40 cattle (7 cows older than 5 years, 12 heifers and 21 bulls aged around 24 months). After slaughter, muscle samples were collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The frozen samples were cut into 10 μm sections on a cryostat. Next, the sections were placed on a glass slide and stained with Oil Red to determine the intramuscular fat content. The study showed that the masseter muscle in the studied population of slaughter cattle had a relatively low proportion of intramuscular fat (1.84% on average). IMF level was highest in heifers (2.26%) and lowest in bulls (1.48%) (P ≤ 0.05). The age of the experimental animals had no significant effect on intramuscular adipose tissue content in the masseter muscle.