Microwave spectroscopy: Novel cost-effective approach to measure drip loss in pork loin

Each stage of meat cutting and processing, from the moment of slaughter until packaging, results in the loss of water, the amount of which is critical in determining both meat product quality and value. Every 1% of lost water potentially costs a large meat processing plant in the region of €50,000 per day. Current standard practice of monitoring the loss of water from meat, or determining its drip loss, employs a destructive laboratory based test which takes 24-72 hours to complete. This paper reports on feasibility studies of using microwave spectroscopy as a cost-effective approach to measure pork loin drip loss. Notably, the developed novel microwave cavity sensor is capable of providing an indication of drip loss within 6 minutes, while demonstrating good correlation with the industry standard EZ-Driploss method (R
²
= 0.896).