Dissected sample joints as indicators of body fat content in the pig

Author: P.A.A. Rossouw
Year: 1982
Issue: 3
Volume: 12
Page: 361 - 363

This study was undertaken to investigate the suitability of various dissected carcass joints as predictors of total body fat in the carcass in order to minimize the time, labour and costs involved in carcass evaluation techniques. A total of 22 Landrace X Large White crossbred castrates were used as experimental animals. These castrates were allotted to one of two nutritional treatments when eight weeks old and reared till they were slaughtered. one from each treatment at 2 week intervals from an age of 11 weeks up to 31 weeks of age. The animals were slaughtered and their body composition determined by chemical analyses and physical joint dissection. The data were used to calculate the relationship between the subcutaneous fat from the various sample joints and total body fat. The subcutaneous fat from the ham and loin joints proved to be the most suitable joints to dissect for predicting total body fat.

Keywords: body fat content, pigs., Sample joints
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