Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct;98(2):263-71.
doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2014.06.004. Epub 2014 Jun 9.

Prediction of intramuscular fat levels in Texel lamb loins using X-ray computed tomography scanning

N Clelland  1 , L Bunger  2 , K A McLean  2 , J Conington  2 , C Maltin  3 , S Knott  4 , N R Lambe  2
Affiliations

Prediction of intramuscular fat levels in Texel lamb loins using X-ray computed tomography scanning

N Clelland et al. Meat Sci. 2014 Oct.

Erratum in

  • Meat Sci. 2015 Jun;104:92

Abstract

For the consumer, tenderness, juiciness and flavour are often described as the most important factors for meat eating quality, all of which have a close association with intramuscular fat (IMF). X-ray computed tomography (CT) can measure fat, muscle and bone volumes and weights, in vivo in sheep and CT predictions of carcass composition have been used in UK sheep breeding programmes over the last few decades. This study aimed to determine the most accurate combination of CT variables to predict IMF percentage of M. longissimus lumborum in Texel lambs. As expected, predicted carcass fat alone accounted for a moderate amount of the variation (R(2)=0.51) in IMF. Prediction accuracies were significantly improved (Adj R(2)>0.65) using information on fat and muscle densities measured from three CT reference scans, showing that CT can provide an accurate prediction of IMF in the loin of purebred Texel sheep.

Keywords: Intramuscular fat; Lamb; Meat quality; X-ray computed tomography.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources