32. An introduction to intramuscular fat (IMF) deposition in finishing animals

Intramuscular fat (IMF) is fat that’s deposited between and within individual muscle fibres (cells) in the body of animals. Often also referred to as ‘marbling’, the consumers of red meat often have a preference for higher IMF meat due to an enhanced eating experience.

In this, our first in a two-part series that focuses on IMF, we lay the foundations for our discussion around IMF. We define what IMF is, and describe why the increasingly discerning consumers prefer meat that contains a higher percentage of IMF. We further scene set around fat metabolism with a discussion around the four key fat depots found in a finishing animal and what roles these fat depots play in the day to day existence of our sheep and cattle.

In Episode 33, we’ll build further on this IMF topic by looking at a deeper level of detail around animal and nutrition-based factors (at a farm level) that influence the extent of IMF deposition in finishing cattle and sheep.

Have a search within this current Episode 32 for topics of interest relating to an introduction to IMF.

0:55 Introduction to Episode 32

2:52 Outlining the content of the episode

4:12 Intramuscular fat (IMF) defined and is ‘marbling’ the same thing?

7:30 Why do consumers of red meat specifically request high IMF meat and why does IMF improve the eating experience for consumers?

14:10 Fat depots around the body, it’s not all about IMF!

14:40 Fat as an essential energy reserve for animals – both white a brown fat (Brown Adipose Tissue; BAT)

17:18 The role of fat to protect internal vital organs inside the animal

18:18 The role of fat to protect the musculoskeletal system

18:44 Intermuscular fat is not the same as intramuscular fat

19:15 Fat as an endocrine organ (that produces hormones, who would have thought!)

21:02 IMF is the last of the four fat depots to be laid down as an animal ages/matures

25:08 IMF is the first of the four fat depots to be mobilised when animals are underfed, eat poor quality feed and/or are stressed