Application of near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy to identify potential PSE meat

BACKGROUND: Pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat is a quality problem that causes a large economic loss to the pork industry. In the present work, near infrared (NIR) quantification and identification methods were used to investigate the feasibility of differentiating potential PSEmeat fromnormalmeat. RESULTS: NIR quantification models were developed to estimate meat pH and colour attributes (L*, a*, b*). Promising results were reported for prediction of muscle pH (R2 CV = 70.10%, RPDCV = 1.83) and L* (R-CV(2) = 77.18%, RPDCV = 1.91), but it is still hard to promote to practical application at this level. The Factorisation Method applied to NIR spectra could differentiate potential PSE meat from normal meat at 3 h post-mortem. Correlation analysis showed significant relationship between NIR data and LF-NMR T2 components thatwere indicative ofwater distribution and mobility in muscle. PSEmeat had unconventionally faster energy metabolism than normalmeat, which caused greater watermobility. CONCLUSION: NIR spectra coupled with the Factorisation Method could be a promising technology to identify potential PSE meat. The difference in the intensity of H2O absorbance peaks between PSE and normal meat might be the basis of this identificationmethod. (C) 2015 Society of Chemical Industry