Meat and Muscle Biology (Jul 2024)

A Comparison of Three Camera Technology Predictions of Intramuscular Fat Percentage in F1 Wagyu

  • Brad Morgan,
  • Chris Poppy,
  • David Manuel Velazco,
  • Hanna Ostrovski,
  • Jennifer Martin,
  • John Scanga,
  • Keith E. Belk,
  • Mahesh N. Nair,
  • Robert Delmore,
  • Robert Williams

DOI
https://doi.org/10.22175/mmb.17792
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1

Abstract

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The prevalence of highly marbled cattle breeds, such as Wagyu, has increased in the US due to consumer demand for higher-quality beef. The ability to grade highly marbled carcasses accurately and consistently, particularly with quantifying intramuscular fat content for validation, remains a challenging task for the Wagyu beef industry. New camera grading technologies have been proposed by VIAS VBG 2000 (e+v Technology GmbH & Co. KG, 2021), Meat Image Japan (MIJ), and MasterBeef (MB) for Wagyu-influenced beef carcass assessment based on advanced image analysis. However, the intramuscular fat measurements of these camera technologies and the actual percent intramuscular fat (%IMF) in the longissimus at the 12/13th rib have yet to be investigated. Chilled carcasses (n = 173) from F1 Wagyu cattle were ribbed between the 12th and 13th ribs, and the left carcass sides were imaged with the E+V, MIJ, and MB cameras. Additionally, the marbling score was assigned by a team of 3 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) graders. Samples from the longissimus thoracis were collected, and the %IMF of the muscle was determined in triplicate. Linear regressions and descriptive statistics were done using JMP (Statistical Discovery, NC, USA) software. Camera fat-related measurements were linearly correlated, and R2 was calculated. The E+V camera had the highest %IMF predictability of all cameras (P < 0.0001) using the marbling score (R2 = 0.6450) estimate. The MIJ camera presented prediction accuracy between the other 2 technologies (P < 0.0001) of %IMF with identical R2 for fat percent and fat score estimates (R2 = 0.5952). The MB camera had the lowest predictability (P < 0.0001) of %IMF using the measured marbling score (R2 = 0.3269), marbling area (R2 = 0.3333), and marbling percent (R2 = 0.3269) estimates from the instrument. As technology advances, new technologies will provide alternative means for grading Wagyu-influenced carcasses. Additionally, these findings could aid the implementation of the USDA pilot program for remote carcass grading.

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