When a project led by NSW Department of Primary Industries scientist Paul Greenwood compared cattle having favour-able markers for tenderness with cattle having unfavourable markers for the trait, it found a substantial measureable difference.

That the experiment was conducted with Bos Indicus cattle in two States is also significant.

As Dr Greenwood noted, it means the tenderness image problem carried by Bos Indicus breeds may have a genetic solution.

"What we wanted to do was to see if we could achieve a greater level of consumer acceptance of beef from Bos Indicus cattle," Dr Greenwood said.

"We've now managed to show that selecting cattle with favourable tenderness markers is one way of doing that."

The two tenderness markers describe just a portion of the multiple interactions that contribute to tenderness ? the activity of the calpain system, which delivers the enzymes that break down meat as it ages after slaughter and the calpastatin system, which inhibits protein breakdown.