Nondestructive Estimation of Lean Meat Yield of South Korean Pig Carcasses Using Machine Vision Technique

Abstract

In this paper, we report the development of a nondestructive prediction model for lean meat percentage (LMP) in Korean pig carcasses and in the major cuts using a machine vision technique. A popular vision system in the meat industry, the VCS2000 was installed in a modern Korean slaughterhouse, and the images of half carcasses were captured using three cameras from 175 selected pork carcasses (86 castrated males and 89 females). The imaged carcasses were divided into calibration (n=135) and validation (n=39) sets and a multilinear regression (MLR) analysis was utilized to develop the prediction equation from the calibration set. The efficiency of the prediction equation was then evaluated by an independent validation set. We found that the prediction equation—developed to estimate LMP in whole carcasses based on six variables—was characterized by a coefficient of determination (Rv2) value of 0.77 (root-mean square error [RMSEV] of 2.12%). In addition, the predicted LMP values for the major cuts: ham, belly, and shoulder exhibited Rv2 values≥0.8 (0.73 for loin parts) with low RMSEV values. However, lower accuracy (Rv(2)=0.67) was achieved for tenderloin cuts. These results indicate that the LMP in Korean pig carcasses and major cuts can be predicted successfully using the VCS2000-based prediction equation developed here. The ultimate advantages of this technique are compatibility and speed, as the VCS2000 imaging system can be installed in any slaughterhouse with minor modifications to facilitate the on-line and real-time prediction of LMP in pig carcasses.

Economic Analysis of the Use of VCS2000 for Pork Carcass Meat Yield Grading in Korea

“…In a study of the performance of the system for prediction of Korean pork carcass yields, the resultant formula was able to achieve an R 2 of 0.77 and the root mean square error (RMSE) for predicting the LMP for the whole carcass was 2.12%. Furthermore, R 2 values for ham, belly, and shoulder cuts were reported to be above 0.8; these results are superior to results from the European pork carcass LMP formula developed using the same VCS2000 system [ 5 ].…”

“…It was determined that 10% of the leading farmers used meat yield data for farm management. The number of leading farms was set at 16 (first decimal place rounding applied) and 3016 units per farm were determined to be annually shipped, which resulted in benefits for 48,256 pigs per year (Equation (3)), which were used in benefit calculations (4) and (5). The formula for the benefit of the rate of increase in the LMP of meat is shown in Equation (3).…”

“…The benefits of reducing pig feed consumption through optimization (KRW) = 110 day (Total feeding periods) × 3 kg/day (pig feeding consumption per day) × 48,256 carcasses (predicted carcass amount per year in leading farms) × 10 KRW (price differences of grain feed) (5) The growing-fattening period is 110 days and the feed consumption per pig was set at 3 kg per day. Finally, it was calculated that the benefits of reducing production costs of feed under this formula will result in an annual cost reduction of 154,770,000 KRW.…”

Relationship between porcine carcass grades and estimated traits based on conventional and non-destructive inspection methods

“…However, because the variables measured by VCS2000 is influenced by the breed and genetic difference of pigs, efficient LMP prediction requires a calibrated equation [8]. Therefore, the traits of pig carcasses were estimated by applying the calibration equation developed for estimating the LMP and lean meat yield of Korean pig carcasses [14]. A total of 46 traits of main cuts were estimated using the non-destructive inspection method, and the estimated traits were then divided into five categories:…”

“…For the effective calculation of LMP utilising the VCS2000 system, a calibration equation for Korean pig breeds is required. Therefore, a calibration equation was developed to the estimation of LMP in Korean whole pig carcasses and lean meat yield of their primal cuts, which is expected to improve the speed, accuracy, and objectiveness of pig carcass judgement [ 14 ].…”