2025 年 31 巻 3 号 p. 185-193
Japanese Black beef is highly regarded for its pronounced marbling, attributed to intramuscular fat deposits that enhance tenderness and impart a distinctive sweet flavor. Conventional methods like chemical and color analysis provide limited insights into the spatial distribution and detailed structure of adipocytes. This study used microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) to visualize the microstructure of marbling in Japanese Black beef, with findings validated through histological and polarized imaging analyses.
Fresh beef samples were chemically fixed and analyzed by micro-CT. The analysis revealed fine intricate marbling patterns and disruptions in the extracellular matrix. Histological validation showed a correlation with the micro-CT data, and polarized imaging analysis confirmed collagen fiber fragmentation and twisting within the intramuscular fat. The results demonstrate the potential utility of micro-CT as a nondestructive tool for analyzing the microstructure of marbling in Japanese Black beef, offering valuable advancements in meat science and quality assessment.
