This study assessed whether there was a scattering spectral marker quantifiable by reflectance measurements that could indicate early development of hepatic steatosis in rats for potential applications to pre-procurement organ evaluation. Sixteen rats were fed a methionine-cholinede ficient (MCD) diet and eight rats were fed a normal diet. Direct assessment of the liver parenchyma of rats in vivo was performed by percutaneous reflectance spectroscopy using a single fiber probe at the beginning of diet-intake and arbitrary post-diet-intake times up to 11 weeks to render longitudinal comparison. Histological sampling of the liver over the duration of diet administration was performed on two MCD-diet treated rats and one control rat euthanized after reflectance spectroscopy measurement. The images of hematoxylin/eosin-stained liver specimens were analyzed morphometrically to evaluate the lipid size changes associated with the level of steatosis. The MCD-diet-treated group (n=16) had mild steatosis in seven rats, moderate in three rats, severe in six rats, and no other significant pathology. No control rats (n=8) developed hepatic steatosis. Among the parameters retrieved from per-SfS, only the scattering power (can be either positive or negative) appeared to be statistically different between MCD-treated and control livers. The scattering power for the 16 MCD-diet-treated livers at the time of euthanasia and presenting various levels of steatosis was 0.33±0.21,in comparison to 0.036±0.25 of the eight control livers (p=0.0189). When evaluated at days 12 and 13 combined, the scattering power of the 16 MCD-diet-treated livers was 0.32±0.17, in comparison to 0.10±0.11 of the eight control livers (p=0.0017). All of four MCD-treated livers harvested at days 12 and 13 presented mild steatosis with sub-micron size lipid droplets, even though none of the MCD-treated livers were sonographically remarkable for fatty changes. The elevation of the scattering power may be a valuable marker indicating early hepatic steatosis before the steatosis is sonographically detectable.