ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENTS OF BACKFAT THICKNESS AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AND POSITIONS ON THE WARM PORK CARCASS AND COMPARISONS OF RULER AND ULTRASONIC PROCEDURES

Abstract

Two hundred and fifty-six warm pork carcasses selected on the rail in a commercial abattoir were utilized to evaluate differences in backfat thickness at various anatomical locations and positions as measured with an ultrasonic device and to compare the ultrasonic measurements taken along the mid-line with the corresponding ruler measurements. Ultrasonic backfat measurements were made at the mid-line, and 2.5 and 5.0 cm off the mid-line over the last rib and at four positions posterior and five positions anterior to the last rib at 5-cm intervals. Ruler measurements of backfat thickness were only taken at the same 10 mid-line positions as the ultrasonic measurements. Areas of minimal variation in dorsal fat thickness were identified. The correlation between ruler and ultrasonic measures varied from 0.82 to 0.93 depending on the position, with the ultrasonic value consistently lower than the corresponding ruler value. The relationship between backfat thickness and warm carcass weight was positive and linear.