Des Moines Business Record
Jan 30, 2006
Pg. 18 Vol. 24 No. 5 ISSN: 1068-6681
Biotronics develops imaging system for pork breeders
Gardyasz, Joe
Like your pork chops tender and juicy?
An Ames company that markets a system used to predict the intramuscular fat content in
cattle has launched a similar program to predict the amount of fat marbling in hogs,
which could lead to production of more tender and flavorful pork.
Biotronics Inc. last week announced the rollout of its BioSoft Toolbox for Swine. The
ultrasound image capturing and interpretation system was created by Doyle Wilson"
Biotronics' president, and Viren Amin, the company's chief scientist. The technology
creates an opportunity for swine breeders of all sizes to compete with relatively equal
resources while working to improve pork quality, Wilson said.
"There's been tremendous interest expressed by some of the larger breeding
companies," said Wilson, who at last week's Iowa Pork Congress meeting in Des Moines
was talking up the product to several producers.
The technology is an important step forward in the pork industry, according to an Iowa
State University expert.
"Intramuscular fat percentage has been determined as a very important meat quality
trait," said Tom Baas, an associate professor of animal science at ISU. "The ability of
pork producers to accurately predict intramuscular fat percentage will allow them to
make important progress in the pork industry."
Wilson said the pork industry's efforts to produce leaner pigs have resulted in not only
reducing the amount of external fat, but also in producing a lower than desirable level of
fat marbling in the muscle.
"These traits are interrelated, so unless you pay attention to that taste fat, you're going to
reduce it, and that's what has happened," he said. On average, the percentage of fat
within the muscle is less than 2.5 percent. How much breeders may want to increase
that percentage will be an individual decision , he said.
For some markets, like Japan, producers will be targeting a much higher percentage
because their customers like a higher degree of marbling in their pork, Wilson said.
The program, which works in conjunction with an ultrasound scanner, retails for $4 600.
The company does not sell the hardware, which can cost from $15,000 to $20,000.
In addition to manufacturing and selling systems for analyzing meat traits, Biotronics
also provides its customers with training and continuing education. Wilson said he's
hopeful the three-person company, which he and Amin founded in 1998, will grow
through sales of the new technology.
GRAPHIC: Photographs