A feasibility study of rapid nondestructive detection of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content in beef based on airflow and laser ranging technique

Authors: LI, YANLEI - China Agricultural University; WANG, WENJUAN - China Agricultural University; LONG, YUAN - China Agricultural University; PENG, YANKUN - China Agricultural University; LI, YONGYU - China Agricultural University; Chao, Kuanglin - Kevin Chao; TANG, XIUYING - China Agricultural University

Submitted to: Meat Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2019
Publication Date: 12/24/2019
Citation: Li, Y., Wang, W., Long, Y., Peng, Y., Li, Y., Chao, K., Tang, X. 2019. A feasibility study of rapid nondestructive detection of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content in beef based on airflow and laser ranging technique. Meat Science. 145:367-374.

Interpretive Summary: Traditional methods to evaluate meat freshness include sensory evaluation, chemical, and physicochemical testing. These methods have many disadvantages. Sensory testing includes human subjectivity thus requires regular “calibration” and “recalibration” to some known human standard. Chemical testing typically measures for some specific “marker” compounds and does not measure large numbers of other compounds that may or may not also correlate with freshness. Physicochemical testing enables detecting low quality as well as a loss in freshness, except understanding these results is complicated. This study developed a new method based on airflow and laser ranging technique to evaluate beef freshness. The method enables in situ on-line nondestructive testing. At the same time, the spectral data collected makes possible identifying deformation characteristics from loss in freshness and distinguishing them from process parameters which are not measures of food safety freshness. The method can become a valid tool for rapidly and nondestructively evaluating meat safety that could greatly benefit the meat industry and consumers.

Technical Abstract: The physical response of beef to stretching and bending is called viscoelasticity and is a measure of beef quality. The deformation of beef under mechanical stress is difficult to deconvolute because many multiple parameters are simultaneously covarying. Airflow and laser ranging techniques were used to non-destructively collect spectra data on deformation in beef samples. This spectra data enabled distinguishing 12 different parameters useful in characterizing the total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content of chilled beef for freshness. Multiple linear regression (MLR), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) were used to establish prediction models. The results showed that the PLSR model performed the best with correlation coefficients in calibration and prediction sets of 0.847 and 0.821, root mean squared errors in the calibration and prediction sets of 1.750 and 2.560'mg/100'g. These results demonstrated that it was feasible to use airflow and laser ranging technique for rapid and nondestructive evaluation of beef freshness. Spectroscopic analysis enables the possibility of detecting localized and spatially distinct sites of damage due observed as a nonuniform in the distribution of viscoelasticity. Similar studies can evaluate deformation characteristics of other livestock including pork and poultry meat.