Prediction of carcass characteristics of discarded Pelibuey ewes by ultrasound measurements

Abstract

The objective of present study was to predict the carcass characteristics of 28 discarded Pelibuey ewes (41.01 ± 8.43 kg) using ultrasonography. The ultrasonic measurements of fat thickness (FT), area, (LDA), depth (DLD) and width (WLD) of the Longissimus dorsi, between the 12th and 13th thoracic vertebra and between the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebra, were performed 24 h before slaughter. At the slaughter, hot carcass, internal organs and internal fat were weighed. The carcasses were divided in two half, refrigerated (1 °C; 24 h) and the chilled carcass were weighed. Then were dissected and weighed in the main tissues. With the data it was calculated the correlation coefficients between the variables and their relationships were estimated using regression models. It was observed that the ultrasonic measurements of thoracic and lumbar backfat thickness had a positive r2 that ranged from 0.51 to 0.66 (P<0.001) for prediction of the carcass weights; and an r2 from 0.44 to 0.57 (P<0.001) to predict the carcass muscle quantity. It is possible to use the measurements of ultrasound as a tool for the evaluation of carcass characteristics in discarded Pelibuey ewes and it is possible to predict the carcass weights and edible tissues.