We describe a method of determining meat quality using the concepts of "mar
bling score" and texture analysis. The marbling score is a measure of the d
istribution density of fat in the rib-eye region. In this system, we consid
er the marbling of meat as a texture pattern. We use a gray level cooccurre
nce matrix as a texture feature and make standard texture-feature vectors f
or each grade using it. The grade of an unevaluated image is determined by
comparing the texture-feature vector of this unevaluated image with the sta
ndard texture-feature vectors. Experimental results show that the system is
effective. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.