A REVIEW OF THE TECHNIQUE OF ESTIMATING THE COMPOSITION OF LIVESTOCK USING THE VELOCITY OF ULTRASOUND

The use of ultrasound to assess the composition of meat animal species has been a significant practice in the livestock industry for more th an 40 years. The different information provided by reflected ultrasoun d energy from tissue boundaries and that obtained from transmission me asurement is outlined, and the relative merits are discussed. The basi c components of a velocity of sound (VOS) system are described. The re peatability of VOS measurement is high, being equivalent to prediction error of the order of 9-22.5 g/kg adipose tissue in the carcass (P < 0.05). Results are presented of trials in which the prediction of body or carcass composition of cattle, sheep and pigs was attempted using different techniques. Generally, VOS has performed as well as, or bett er than, other ultrasound techniques and visual assessment of carcass fatness. Information on meat quality is also possible using VOS to mea sure intramuscular fat. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.