Prediction of marbling score in ribeye quartered at the 5th- 6th rib of French beef using the Q-FOM™ beef assessment camera

In the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) and Guaranteed Global Grading (3G) grading schemes, beef marbling is scored visually in the chiller by accredited graders from 100 to 1190 marble score points in increments of 10. This study aimed to evaluate a hand-held camera (Q-FOM™ Beef) for determining MSA marbling scores of carcasses quartered between the 5th and 6th rib. The carcasses were scored by two accredited graders, including an expert grader (i.e. a more experienced grader). The R2 of correlation between scores of the two graders for 377 carcasses was 0.78 with a RMSE of 47.9. The R2 of correlation between the scores of the expert grader and the Q-FOM™ for 285 carcasses was 0.75 with a RMSE of 44.9. For the grader-to-grader comparison, 75.9 %, 97.1 % and 100 % of the values were within 50, 100 and 200 marbling points, respectively. For the comparison between Q-FOM™ predictions and the expert grader, 78.6 %, 96.8 % and 99.7 % of the values were within 50, 100 and 200 marbling points, respectively. Both between visual graders and the Q-FOM™ against expert grader showed acceptable accuracy performance and fulfilled the accreditation criteria defined by AUS-MEAT in Australia. Additionally, 124 Q-FOM™ images were assessed on-screen by the expert grader. The R2 of correlation between the in-chiller and on-screen MSA marbling scores was 0.78 with a RMSEP of 48.7. Thus, on-screen assessing met requirements for accreditation, and both in-chiller and on-screen visual assessments of MSA marbling score are acceptable inputs for developing a Q-FOM™ Beef marbling model.

Across countries implementation of handheld near-infrared spectrometer for the on-line prediction of beef marbling in slaughterhouse

Only few studies have used Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to assess meat quality traits directly in the chiller. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the ability of a handheld NIR spectrometer to predict marbling scores on intact meat muscles in the chiller. A total of 829 animals from 2 slaughterhouses in France and Italy were involved. Marbling was assessed according to the 3G (Global Grading Guaranteed) protocol using 2 different scores. NIR measurements were collected by performing 5 scans at different points of the Longissimus thoracis. An average MSA marbling score of 330-340 was obtained in the two countries. The prediction models provided a R² in external validation between 0.46 and 0.59 and a standard error of prediction between 83.1 and 105.5. Results did provide a moderate prediction of the marbling scores but can be useful in the European industry context to predict classes of MSA marbling.