The use of non-invasive methods for the estimation of meat quality: Near infrared spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy

Abstract

In recent years, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy have proved to be very efficient and advanced techniques for monitoring the quality attributes of agricultural products. The present review gives an overview on the state of knowledge of the use of these technologies for the estimation of the quality of meat and meat products. Firstly, the principles of both techniquesv are presented, and the actual possibilities of their analytical applications for estimating the attributes of meat quality are described. Both techniques show a great potential to predict the muscle composition and meat quality. However, in spite of the great research effort performed, their application in practice is still limited. The causes of these performances are discussed. Otherwise, near infrared reflectance use for traceability is more advanced. The results seem very promising when this technique is used for detecting different meat types in the composition of meat products, for discriminating fresh from frozen-thawed meat or for the authentication of animal feeding.