A Method for Measuring the Proportion of Fat and Lean Tissue in Swine Carcasses

Seventy hog carcasses were used in the collection of data to study the use of a sampling technique for estimating the proportion of fat and lean tissue of swine carcasses. The results indicated that a coring device may be used to procure samples of fat and lean tissue for purposes of estimating the relative amounts of fat and lean tissue a carcass contains. Of the five positions on the carcass tested, the 5–6 rib sample offers the best index of the lean tissue of the carcass when percentage figures are used. This, however, does not hold true for percentage figures in estimating fat content. There is considerable variation in the degrees of relationship between percentage of lean of the various samples. No additional improvement in correlation coefficients was obtained by combining several samples to use in multiple prediction equations. A high degree of association exists between lean content of the samples and percentage of five primal cuts. The ratio of fat to lean tissue in the 5–6 rib samples is highly associated with the ratio of fat to lean tissue of the carcass. This relationship has more merits for its use in carcass appraisal than any of the others tested in this study.