Chemometric Modeling of Fat, Cholesterol and Caloric Content of Fresh and Cooked Ground Beef with NIR Reflectance Spectroscopy

The objective of this study was to quantify fat, calories and cholesterol content in fresh and cooked ground beef using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Near-infrared reflectance measurements (356 to 1050 nm) were recorded from fresh and cooked patties. Partial least square (PLS) regression analysis of the spectrum resulted in validation R-square (R
_Val
) for each variable, such as fat, calories and cholesterol ranging from 0.91 to 0.98 for fresh and 0.73 to 0.93 for cooked category. Overall predictability for the AW region of the model had correlation coefficients ranging from 0.92 to 0.99 for fresh, and 0.78 to 0.96 in cooked category. This study indicated that NIR spectroscopy could be a useful tool for quality monitoring in the beef industry