title: Post-mortem prediction of primal and selected retail cut weights of New Zealand lamb from carcass and animal characteristics.
abstract: Post-mortem measurements (cold weight, grade and external carcass linear dimensions) as well as live animal data (age, breed, sex) were used to predict ovine primal and retail cut weights for 792 lamb carcases. Significant levels of variance could be explained using these predictors. The predictive power of those measurements on primal and retail cut weights was studied by using the results from principal component analysis and the absolute value of the t-statistics of the linear regression model. High prediction accuracy for primal cut weight was achieved (adjusted R(2) up to 0.95), as well as moderate accuracy for key retail cut weight: tenderloins (adj-R(2)=0.60), loin (adj-R(2)=0.62), French rack (adj-R(2)=0.76) and rump (adj-R(2)=0.75). The carcass cold weight had the best predictive power, with the accuracy increasing by around 10% after including the next three most significant variables.
authors.affiliation: Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand; Arts et Métiers ParisTech, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.affiliation: Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: harvey.ho@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: Silver Fern Farms Ltd, New Zealand.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Silver Fern Farms Ltd, New Zealand.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: Silver Fern Farms Ltd, New Zealand.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pearson
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D001835:Body Weight; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005513:Food Inspection; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D008462:Meat-Packing Industry / Q000379:methods*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological; D024510:Muscle Development; D009520:New Zealand; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D034561:Sheep, Domestic / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats
keywords: Carcass traits; Lamb; Primal cut weights; Retail cut weights; Shape measurements; Significant predictors