BEING able to accurately measure intramuscular fat in a carcase paves the way for providing the type of feedback to producers that will ultimately deliver an animal capable of bringing more value into the supply chain.
For this reason, plenty of research work has been going into new technology in the space of objective carcase measurement around IMF and the latest is a non-invasive, automated sensor tool that can determine the IMF percentage in lamb carcases.
The processing sector's research and development body, the Australian Meat Processor Corporation, has invested in research on the technology developed by food processing innovation company inMR Measure.
The Marbl™ technology tool uses a single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance sensor alongside the longissimus muscle to capture IMF measurements. The sensor tool can be installed into existing carcase handling equipment to measure hot carcases.
AMPC program manager Stuart Shaw said there were a number of objective measuring tools to measure IMF now, and all had their own advantages.
"This is another tool in the kit and its big advantage is that it is non-invasive and automated - it won't need human contribution at all," he said.
IMF is a key trait of the Meat Standards Australian eating quality grading system for lamb.
Mr Shaw said AMPC prioritised the development of new technologies capable of accurately measuring eating quality traits that can be deployed pre and post chillers and are capable of operating at production speeds.
"Measuring hot lamb carcases at the end of the harvest floor will provide processors the opportunity to sort carcases into chillers followed by batch manufacture of similarly graded product using IMF percentage measurements," he said.
"But it is also very much about giving producers the information they need to make decisions on breeding and management to influence the value of their livestock.
"Ultimately it's all about meeting the consumer want - streamlining the process to get the correct product on the shelf and maximise production efficiencies in doing that."
InMR Measure co-founder and director Dr Barbara Webster said over the course of the project, the Marbl™ technology tool advanced from a sensor used on a workshop bench to a fully functional automated measurement tool that was successfully trialled on site.
"The tool was trialled with 100 hot carcases in a processing plant in New Zealand before it was shipped to Australia where over 1000 carcases were measured that covered two different seasons, weights from 17.5kg to 42kg, fat scores 2-5, and a variety of breeds," she said.
Mr Shaw said the prototype had proven the technology and the next step would be getting it into a production environment and trailling it in real time.
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
