Characterization of beef muscle tissue using texture analysis of ultrasonic images

In the Unites States, commercially available beef is subjectively graded by certified inspectors. The primary factors in determining beef quality grades are the amount and distribution (or marbling) of intramuscular fat. There is a growing demand in the meat industry for an objective system of evaluating the quality of beef carcasses as well as live animals. Ultrasound has been shown to have a good potential for this application. The authors´ approach was to use texture analysis of the ultrasonic images from rib-eye muscle of live animals to evaluate intramuscular fat and marbling. Two approaches of texture analysis, namely spatial gray-level dependence matrices and gray-level run-length matrices, were used. The significant texture parameters were statistically analyzed to derive the models for predicting marbling scores and percentage of fat. The preliminary results showed a good potential of these approaches for tissue characterization and objectively evaluating beef quality.