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Pork Carcass Muscling: Fat, Lean and Bone Ratios¹

University of Florida, Gainesville

Abstract

Over the last two decades, U.S. pork producers have concentrated on the production of carcasses having more lean and less fat. Producers have adopted and used scientifically based breeding, feeding and management practices and, accordingly, have accomplished a rapid improvement in pork carcass meatiness. With that improvement, an increasing number of well-muscled carcasses were observed that had acceptable quality but lacked the minimum backfat thickness for the number one Grade based on the Official United States Department of Agriculture Standards for Grades of Barrow and Gilt Carcasses (1958). The new official U.S.D.A. Standards (1968) give due credit to those carcasses. Further, the new Standards incorporate the use of a subjectively determined carcass muscling score in conjunction with previously used backfat thickness and carcass length or weight measurements to formulate the final carcass grade. Information is needed, however, on the extent to which muscling score contributes to a more accurate evaluation of pork carcass meatiness.

¹ Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No. 3327.

² Present address: Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77840.

³ Department of Animal Science.