Abstract / Description of output
More than 800 beef primal cuts from 44 Aberdeen Angus and Limousin-cross steers carcasses were scanned using spiral computed tomography (CT) and dissected. Thresholds for the segmentation of fat, muscle and bone in the CT spirals were estimated with the objective of assessing the weight of these tissues in the primal cuts and in the entire carcasses. Thresholds were estimated using half of the dataset (DBE) and then validated in the other half (DBV). Automatic image analysis procedures were used to assess tissue weights. The R(2) of the regression between primal tissue weight by dissection and CT were high in both datasets for fat (DBE, 0.89; DBV, 0.92), muscle (DBE, 0.99; DBV, 0.99) and bone (DBE, 0.95; DBV, 0.97). The estimation of total carcass tissue weights were also very accurate for the three tissues (R(2) values of 0.95 to 0.96), indicating that CT scanning may deliver very accurate information on beef carcass composition faster and with lower cost than physical dissection and without damaging or depreciating the primal joints.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 30-8 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Meat Science |
| Volume | 84 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Adipose Tissue, White
- Animals
- Body Composition
- Body Weight
- Bone and Bones
- Cattle
- Dissection
- Food Technology
- Male
- Meat
- Meat-Packing Industry
- Muscle, Skeletal
- Organ Size
- Organ Specificity
- Reference Values
- Reproducibility of Results
- Species Specificity
- Tomography, Spiral Computed