Muscle biopsies were taken from the longissimus of 21 Hereford yearling bulls, and percentage relationships among fiber types, capillary density, meat quality and cutability were studied. Percentage of α and β type muscle fibers stained for alkaline stabile and acid stabile ATPase were essentially the same. Significant sire effects were observed for percentage of fiber types and capillary density. Percentage of fiber types demonstrated by the alkaline stabile ATPase method was not closely associated with that of carcass or palatability traits except for panel juiciness score. Capillaries per unit area and capillaries per fiber increased as subcutaneous and intramuscular fat increased. Palatability traits were related negatively with increased capillary density.
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Melton et al. (1975) studied this question.