The use of visible and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy to predict beef M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum quality attributes.

Visible and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was used to predict pH at 24h (pH24) post-mortem, sarcomere length (SL), cooking loss (CL), Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) and colour parameters (L(∗), a(∗), b(∗)) in beef cattle samples. Samples from M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum from 30 bulls were aged at 4°C for 1, 3, 7 and 14 days and analysed for pH, SL, CL, WBSF and colour. NIRS calibrations for pH24, luminosity at 0 (L(∗)t0) and 60min (L(∗)t60) showed good predictability (R(2)=0.97, 0.85 and 0.82; SECV=0.10, 1.16, 1.36, respectively), whereas those related to the rest of the parameters were poorer.