Rapid and non-destructive determination of lean fat and bone content in beef using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was evaluated for its accuracy in predicting total lean, fat and bone in beef carcass sides and primal cuts. Left carcass sides (n = 316) were broken down into primal cuts, scanned using DXA and then dissected to fat, lean and bone. The DXA estimates for bone, lean and fat from the primals (n = 237) were used to calibrate partial least squares regression (PLSR) models for predicting tissue weights. Models were validated using 79 additional carcass sides, which were broken into primals, scanned using DXA, and subsequently dissected to fat, lean and bone. Models were highly accurate for predicting tissue weights for the entire carcass side (lean R-2 = 0.991, fat R-2 = 0.985 and bone R-2 = 0.941) and within most primal cuts. Results suggest DXA technology can be utilized to accurately predict carcass tissue composition for whole carcass sides and within most primals.