Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy coupled to a long fibre optic head for the quality control of IBERIAN pork loins: Intact versus minced

Conventional chemical analyses of meat products are time-consuming, expensive and destructive. The advantages of NIR spectroscopy are its speed, portability, suitability for both at-line and on-line analysis, low cost and the possibility of simultaneously measuring many different parameters in a large number of samples. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate calibrations for the prediction of moisture, protein and fat in Iberian pig pork loins using an FT-NIR instrument coupled to a 5-m fibre optic sensor head. The best equations obtained for intact loin in both modes of analysis (full and optimal spectral range) displayed Standard Error of Cross-Validation (RMSECV) of 1.06% and 1.09% and Determination Coefficient of Cross-Validation (R-CV(2)) of 0.69 and 0.77 for fat: RMSECV of 0.87% and 0.77% and R-CV(2) of 0.67 and 0.73 for moisture; while for protein, the RMSECV values were 0.51% and 0.49% and the R-CV(2) values were 0.66 and 0.70.