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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310207
Title: Quantification and spatial characterization of moisture and NaCl content of Iberian dry-cured ham slices using NIR hyperspectral imaging

Author
item GARRIDO-NOVELL, CRITOBAL - Universidad De Cordoba
item PEREZ-MARIN, DOLORES - Universidad De Cordoba
item GUERRERO-GINEL, E. - Universidad De Cordoba
item Kim, Moon
item GARRIDO-VARO, ANA - Universidad De Cordoba

Submitted to: Journal of Food Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2015
Publication Date: 5/1/2015
Citation: Garrido-Novell, C., Perez-Marin, D., Guerrero-Ginel, E., Kim, M.S., Garrido-Varo, A. 2015. Quantification and spatial characterization of moisture and NaCl content of Iberian dry-cured ham slices using NIR hyperspectral imaging. Journal of Food Engineering. 153:117-123.

Interpretive Summary: Hyperspectral imaging records both spectral and spatial information, thus potentially facilitating spatial characterizations of heterogeneous distributions of constituents on agricultural products. A near-infrared hyperspectral imaging technology was investigated to assess salt and moisture contents and their distributions on Iberian dry-cured ham slices. The results showed moderate accuracy for predicting salt content, while excellent accuracy was obtained for moisture content of the samples. Using spatial information provided by the chemical imaging, the distributions of both salt and moisture in the samples could be visualized. This investigation is beneficial to food technologists and scientists for providing a rapid means to assess salt and moisture contents of meat products.

Technical Abstract: Hyperspectral imaging technology is increasingly regarded as a powerful tool for the classification and spatial quantification of a wide range of agrofood product properties. Taking into account the difficulties involved in validating hyperspectral calibrations, the models constructed here proved moderately accurate for predicting NaCl content, while good accuracy was obtained for moisture content in Iberian dry-cured ham slices. Using spatial information provided by chemical imaging, the distribution of both analytes was characterized by textural analysis as a function of muscle and commercial category.