In-Line Estimation of Fat Marbling in Whole Beef Striploins (Longissimus lumborum) by NIR Hyperspectral Imaging. A Closer Look at the Role of Myoglobin

Sammendrag

Fat marbling, the amount, and distribution of intramuscular fat, is an important quality
trait for beef loin (Longissimus lumborum) and is closely connected to sensory properties such as
tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. For meat producers, it would be of value to grade and sort whole
loins according to marbling on the production line. The main goal of this study was to evaluate
high-speed NIR hyperspectral imaging in interaction mode (760–1047 nm) for in-line measurement of
sensory assessed marbling in both intact loins and loin slices. The NIR system was calibrated based
on 28 whole striploins and 412 slices. Marbling scores were assessed for all slices on a scale from
1 to 9 by a trained sensory panel. The calibrated NIR system was tested for in-line measurements
on 30 loins and 60 slices at a commercial meat producer. Satisfactory accuracy for prediction of
marbling was obtained by partial least squares regression for both slices and whole loins (R2 = 0.81 &
0.82, RMSEP = 0.95 & 0.88, respectively). The concentration of myoglobin in the meat and its state
of oxygenation has a strong impact on the NIR spectra and can give deviations in the estimated
marbling scores. This must be carefully considered in industrial implementation.

Les publikasjonen her:

DOI : doi.org/10.3390/foods11091219
NVA : hdl.handle.net/11250/3035072