Estimation of Canadian and European lean yields and composition of pig carcasses by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was used on 110 pig carcasses to estimate fat, lean, bone mineral content and total tissue masses of the major primal cuts and overall carcasses. The DEXA estimations were compared and used to predict the dissected lean, fat (including skin), bone and weight of primal cuts and carcasses, as well as to predict the Canadian and the European lean yields. The best relationships were obtained when predicting the weight of ham (R2=0.99), loin (R2=0.99), shoulder (R2=0.96), belly (R2=0.93), half carcass (R2=0.98), ham lean (R2=0.89), loin lean (R2=0.89), shoulder lean (R2=0.87), and the meat weight used in the estimation of the Canadian (R2=0.92) and the European lean yield (R2=0.82). While the weight of fat in the carcass and primal cuts was accurately estimated by DEXA (R2>0.72), DEXA carcass composition estimations were less accurate when predicting dissected bone weights (R2<0.54).