In-line analysis of ground beef using a diode array NIR instrument on a conveyer belt

Sammendrag

In-line monitoring of the proximal composition of ground beef on a conveyer belt has been tested by a NIR reflectance instrument with a diode array detector. 60 batches of coarsely ground beef were processed under industry conditions and continuously monitored. After removing signals originating from the belt itself, the remaining data were used to make PLS prediction models for all samples at 2 different grinding sizes. The correlation coefficients were in the range 0.93-0.96, while the full cross-validated prediction errors for fat and water were between 1.6-2.4%. The corresponding prediction errors for protein were 0.5-0.8%. A forward variable selection method based on Jack-knifing yielded similar results. The predictions were generally best for the smallest grinding size. The loading plots showed that there was a high interdependency between calibrations for the different components.