Using fat thickness and longissimus thoracis traits real-time ultrasound measurements in Black Belly ewe lambs to predict carcass tissue composition through multiresponse multivariate adaptive regression splines algorithm

Abstract

The main idea of the current study was to estimate carcass tissue composition using fat thickness and longissimus thoracis (LT) traits real-time ultrasound measurements (USM) in Black Belly ewe lambs through multiresponse multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) algorithms. Twenty-four hours before slaughter, subcutaneous (SFT) and kidney-fat thickness (KFT), LT depth (LTD), width (LTA, cm) and area (LTMA) were measured in 60 lambs (BW of 26.40 ± 7.01 kg). Information on carcass and non-carcass components was recorded after slaughter. The total carcass muscle (TCM), total carcass bone (TCB), and total carcass fat (TCF) had a low to high correlation (P < 0.01) with BW, cold carcass weight (CCW), and LTD, SFT, KFT, and LDMA. The CCW (%65.58) and SFT (%16.70) were the most effective variables, whilst LTD (%9.57) and LTMA (%8.15) were the lowest variables for determining TCB, TCM, and TCF. The multiresponse MARS algorithm provides an accurate and efficient means of estimating TCF, TCB, and TCM.