Estimation of Carcass Tissue Composition from Carcass Joints in Male Lambs

LARGE ANIMAL REVIEW, vol.31, no.31-36, pp.31-36, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)

Publication Type: Article / Article
Volume: 31 Issue: 31-36
Publication Date: 2025
Journal Name: LARGE ANIMAL REVIEW
Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database
Page Numbers: pp.31-36
Ondokuz Mayıs University Affiliated: Yes

This study was carried out to estimate the tissue compositions of half-carcasses of male lambs by using carcass joints. The stu

dy’s

live material consisted of 45 male lambs from Akkaraman, Karayaka, and Herik breeds. After weaning, the male lambs were fed

with lamb concentrate feed and alfalfa. They were then transferred to slaughter when they reached 40 kg live weight. The left

half-carcasses of all lambs were divided into seven joints: neck,

anterior rib, rib, loin, leg, flank, and foreleg, in order to

deter-

mine the tissue composition of carcass joints and half-carcasses.

All carcass joints were dissected into muscle, subcutaneous f

at,

intermuscular fat, bone tissue and other remaining tissues. The study found that the percentage of muscle was higher in the leg

(61.33%), while the percentage of fat was higher in the flank (36.03%). The percentage of bone was similar in all joints except

the flank. It was also found that the variation in adipose tissue was higher than the variation in other tissues in all carcass

jo-

ints.High phenotypic correlation coefficients were determined between the tissue composition of carcass joints and half-carcass

tissue composition. In addition, the regression coefficients

determined for all carcass joints were statistically significant i

n the

prediction of half-carcass tissue composition. The significant phenotypic correlation and regression coefficients indicate that

the

tissue composition of carcass joints and half-carcass are related. Although the regression coefficients calculated for the esti

ma-

ting of total muscle and bone weight in the half carcass were

found to be statistically significant, the coefficients for joint

s other

than the leg and foreleg were low. The regression coefficients for total fat were high except for the anterior rib. The study r

evea-

led that the tissues in the leg were more important in predicting the weight of muscle and bone in the half-carcass, and the ad

pose tissue in the loin was more determinant in predicting the weight of fat than the other joints. In addition, the results of

this

study indicate that utilizing only a single carcass joint is not effective in the estimating of carcass tissue composition