Application of Ultrasound Images Texture Analysis for the Estimation of Intramuscular Fat Content in the <i>Longissimus Thoracis</i> Muscle of Beef Cattle after Slaughter: A Methodological Study
2021
Giorgia Fabbri | Matteo Gianesella | Luigi Gallo | Massimo Morgante | Barbara Contiero | Michele Muraro | Matteo Boso | Enrico Fiore
Intramuscular fat (IMF) is a major trait in the evaluation of beef meat, but its determination is subjective and inconsistent and still relies on visual inspection. This research objective was a method to predict IMF% from beef meat using ultrasound (US) imaging texture analysis. US images were performed on the <i>longissimus thoracis</i> muscle of 27 Charolaise heifers. Cuts from the 12th to 13th ribs were scanned. The lipid content of the muscle samples was determined with the petrol ether (Randall) extraction method. A stepwise linear discriminant analysis was used to screen US texture parameters. IMF% measured by chemical extraction (IMFqa) was the dependent variable and the results of the texture analysis were the explanatory variables. The model highlighted seven parameters, as a predictive and a multiple regression equation was created. Prediction of IMF content (IMFpred) was then validated using IMFqa as ground truth. Determination coefficient between IMFqa and IMFpred was R<sup>2</sup> = 0.76, while the ROC analysis showing a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 90%. Bland-Altman plot upper and lower limit were +1.34 and −1.42, respectively (±1.96 SD), with a mean of −0.04. The results from the present study therefore suggest that prediction of IMF content in muscle mass by US texture analysis is possible.
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