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Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology

J Anim Sci Technol

pISSN: 2672-0191, eISSN: 2055-0391

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2500172

Article

Correlation between muscle fiber type, muscle-to-fat ratio, and physicochemical properties in pork belly and mokshim (neck)

Sheena Kim1, Hyunok Doo1, Jinok Kwak1, Yejin Choi1, Juyoun Kang1, Haram Kim1, Yeongjae Chae1, Suyoung Lee1, Pil Nam Seong2, Samooel Jung3, Hyo Jung Kwon4, Youngwon Lee4, Suphot Wattanaphansak5, Hyeun Bum Kim1,*
1Department of Animal Biotechnology, Dankook University, , Cheonan 31116, Korea.
2Animal Products and Utilization division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Korea.
3Division of Animal and Dairy Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
4College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
5Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
*Corresponding Author: Hyeun Bum Kim, Department of Animal Biotechnology, Dankook University, , Cheonan 31116, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: hbkim@dankook.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2025 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Aug 25, 2025; Revised: Oct 25, 2025; Accepted: Nov 11, 2025

Published Online: Nov 17, 2025

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to measure the muscle and fat ratio of mokshim (neck, Boston butt equivalent) and pork belly using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to provide basic data that can be used for quality evaluation by comparing it to the traditional pork quality assessment indicator, the physicochemical properties. A total of 115 pork mokshim and pork belly were scanned by CT, while 30% (33 samples of pork) of them were imaged by MRI. The ratios of muscle-to-fat were estimated using Vitrea workstation version 7. The muscle-to-fat ratio of mokshim measured by CT and MRI showed comparable values of 1:0350 and 1:0.325, respectively. The correlations between physicochemical properties and non-destructive assessment methods, including CT, MRI, and histochemical staining, were evaluated using GraphPad Prism version 8. The muscle-to-fat ratio in the mokshim measured by CT showed a significant negative correlation with cooking loss (r = −0.226, <italic>p</italic> < 0.05), and positive correlations with moisture content (r = 0.203, <italic>p</italic> < 0.05) and yellowness (b*) (r = 0.220, <italic>p</italic> < 0.05). In the pork belly, the muscle-to-fat ratio also showed a significant positive correlation with b* (r = 0.411, <italic>p</italic> < 0.001).  In contrast, no significant correlation was observed between the muscle-to-fat ratio measured by MRI and any of the physicochemical properties. Similarly, no significant correlations were found between muscle fiber type Ⅰ and physicochemical properties across all belly regions. However, significant associations were observed between muscle fiber types and meat color in the pork belly. Type ⅡA Fibers showed negative correlations with lightness and yellowness, whereas Type ⅡB fibers showed positive correlations with these color traits. These results suggest a potential relationship between muscle fiber composition, muscle-to-fat ratio, and pork quality traits. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords: Computed tomography; Magnetic resonance imaging; mATPase staining; Muscle fiber type; Pork quality; Physicochemical properties