The Rise of Fat
Dr Tricia Johnson, AgResearch, Invermay
Preslaughter
handling
On-farm
management
High
quality
consistent
product**
Genetics
Postslaughter
processing
**Optimum lean:fat; visually appealing; good consistent eating experience
Lamb Fat & Lean Fixed at Time of Trucking
• Progress in genetics & on-farm management have
improved carcass size & fatness of typical lamb
• But can’t overshoot on fatness:
• Need some amount of carcass fat
• Need some amount of intramuscular fat
• So we need fat:
• Can we alternatively manipulate the fatty acid profile of
what fat there is?
Intramuscular Fat and Lamb
• Historically not often in same sentence
• Australian work suggesting antagonist relationship
between lean meat yield and IMF  not enough IMF
• Not aiming for “Wagyu Lamb”, but need to optimise
• Identified as research priority by Beef + Lamb New
Zealand Genetics
• Highly heritable trait
• Relevant to PGPs
• Problem – measuring it!
Fatty Acid Profile of All Fat
• Relevant to PGPs and National Science Challenges
• Problem – measuring it!
Absolute Values and Predicting
• Some research requires absolute levels and profile
thereof to be reported
• For other research prediction of IMF is adequate,
particularly for large-scale or real-time
• Also potential for live animal?
• AgResearch developing advanced capability across the
breadth
AgR - Measuring Absolute Levels
• Intramuscular fat content and fatty acid profiling
• Tried “off the shelf profiling” – not ideal!
• Profiling a complex topic influenced by:
• Methodology used
• Sample handling such as freezing and thawing
• Developing in-house capability linked to growing
knowledge base on the subject – not just producing a
“value”
• AgResearch CORE Funding
AgR – Predicting IMF
• Live animal IMF: images collected from ultrasound or CT
• Non-invasive on meat in plant:
• Adam Stuarts Masters – subsequent presentation
Conclusions
•
•
•
•
Presentation lamb centric – but applicable to all “meat”
“Fat” here to stay
Need to optimise and improve attributes thereof
AgResearch developing capability and knowledge to
support and guide industry needs
Fat is a key attribute of the carcass that is important to
overall product quality – just need to optimise its levels.
Optimisation which can only be achieved through
research that understands its drivers.