The leg and the loin as indices of the composition of New Zealand lamb and mutton carcasses

Summary The use of the leg and the loin as sample joints for estimating the carcass composition in terms of fat, muscle, and bone of 120 New Zealand lamb and mutton carcasses is discussed. In all cases the correlations between the dissectible components of these two joints and the same components of the whole carcass were highly significant. The correlation coefficients show that the combination of a leg and loin are better indices of carcass composition than either joint alone. Regression equations are presented for estimating carcass composition from the weights of the components of the leg and the loin. The use of the neck, thorax, shoulder, and pelvis as sample joints is also considered.