Performance of a Handheld Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Device to Predict Pork Primal Belly Fat Iodine Value and Loin Lean Intramuscular Fat Content.

The increase in market demand and economic value of Canadian pork primal cuts has led to a need to assess advanced technologies capable of measuring quality traits. Fat and lean composition were measured using a Tellspec near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy device to predict the pork belly fat iodine value (IV) and loin lean intramuscular fat (IMF) content in 158 pork belly primals and 419 loin chops. The calibration model revealed a 90.6% and 88.9% accuracy for the Tellspec NIR to predict saturated fatty acids (SFA) and IV, respectively, in the belly fat. The calibration model accuracy for the other belly fatty acids revealed an accuracy of 66.3-86.1%. Using the Tellspec NIR to predict loin lean IMF reported a lower accuracy for moisture (R2 = 60) and fat % (R2 = 40.4). This suggests that Tellspec NIR spectroscopy measures on the pork belly primal offers a cost-efficient, rapid, accurate, and non-invasive indicator of pork belly IV and could be used for the classification for specific markets.

Prediction of primal and retail cut weights, tissue composition and yields of youthful cattle carcasses using computer vision systems; whole carcass camera and/or ribeye camera.

The application of two computer vision systems (CVS) was evaluated to predict primal and retail cut composition in youthful beef carcasses. Left carcass sides from a total of 634 animals were broken down into primal cuts, scanned using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry for the prediction of tissue composition and fabricated into retail cuts. Cold carcass camera (CCC) images led to higher R2 values than hot carcass camera (HCC) images. The CVS coefficients of prediction for the primal cut weights ranged from 0.61 to 0.97. For the primal cut tissue composition predictions, R2 values ranged from 0.09 for Brisket HCC bone prediction to 0.82 for Chuck CCC fat prediction. Retail cut weight estimations had similar R2 values, ranging from 0.10 for IMPS 112 (Ribeye roll-denuded ribeye) to 0.99 for IMPS 113C (semi-boneless chuck) both using CCC. The results suggest the feasibility of CVS technologies to predict beef primal and retail cuts weights together with tissue composition, and yield percentages.

An image analysis approach to identification and measurement of marbling in the intact pork loin.

An image analysis method for identifying marbling on exposed boneless pork loin surfaces was developed, solving the problem of influences from uneven lean colour. Comparing results from RAW and JPEG images of the mid-loin pork chop showed that, except at very high marbling levels, estimation of %IMF (intramuscular fat) was similar with both image types (R2 = 0.72 and 0.74 respectively). Marbling calculated from JPEGs was positively related to %IMF, but also diverged as %IMF increased. Estimations of %IMF at the mid-loin chop from JPEGs of external loin sites showed marbling on the posterior face to be the most strongly related (r = 0.72, P < 0.0001), followed by the ventral surface (r = 0.62-0.64, P < 0.0001), and the anterior face (r = 0.56, P < 0.0001). For on-line application, computing speed is important. This study suggested that an image capture system could be reduced to the capture of a cyan-filtered monochrome JPEG image for analysis.

Effects of a novel three-step sous-vide cooking and subsequent chilled storage on the microbiota of beef steaks.

This study aimed to evaluate a novel three-step sous-vide (SV) method on bacterial growth and diversity, and its relationship to product storage life. Vacuum-packed naturally contaminated steaks were sequentially cooked at 39 °C (1 h), 49 °C (1 h), and 59 °C (4 h), then stored at -1.5 and 2 °C for 28 d, with a single-step SV at 59 °C for 4 h for comparison. None of the seven indicator bacteria tested proliferated (P > .05) after incubation at 39 or 49 °C; microbial diversity was also unaffected. Bacterial load was reduced (P < .05) by up to 5 log units with both (P > .05) SV methods. The odour of all steaks remained acceptable on d 28. Unexpectedly, during storage, Pseudomonas, not lactic acid bacteria, dominated the microbiota on steaks cooked by either SV method, likely due to the temperature shift-induced lag phase and/or heat sensitivity of psychrotrophic bacteria. In conclusion, the three-step SV did not lead to bacterial proliferation or compromise the storage life of cooked products.

Type of packaging affects the colour stability of vitamin E enriched beef.

Colour stability is a very important parameter for meat retail display, as appearance of the product is the deciding factor for consumers at time of purchase. This study investigated the possibility of extending appearance shelf-life through the combined use of packaging method (overwrapping - OVER, modified atmosphere - MAP, vacuum skin packaging - VSP and a combination of modified atmosphere and vacuum skin packaging - MAPVSP) and antioxidants (vitamin E enriched beef). Retail attributes (appearance, lean colour, % surface discolouration), as well as colour space analysis of images for red, green and blue parameters were measured over 18days. MAPVSP provided the most desirable retail appearance during the first 4days of retail display, while VSP-HB had the best colour stability. Overall, packaging type was more influential than α-tocopherol levels on meat colour stability, although α-tocopherol levels (>4µgg(-1) meat) had a protective effect when using high oxygen packaging methods.