Visible/Near infrared spectroscopy in muscle beef analysis: how device choice and sampling affect prediction accuracy
Abstract
This study evaluated the performance of two portable spectral devices (visible: Vis; near‑infrared: NIR) and one benchtop combined Vis/NIR instrument for predicting beef biochemical traits related to meat quality. A total of 497 muscle samples were collected from 55 fattening farms across five European countries. Reference values were obtained exclusively from pooled samples. For the benchtop device, two sampling strategies were compared: 1) direct scanning of pooled samples (n = 99) used for reference analyses, and 2) scanning individual samples followed by spectral averaging to match pooled references. Partial least squares regression models were developed using several preprocessing methods. For heme iron, predictive performance was also evaluated by separately analyzing the visible region of the benchtop device. Results showed that the benchtop Vis/NIR instrument clearly outperformed the portable devices, providing higher prediction accuracies for all traits across the full spectral range. Compared with portable instruments, the benchtop device achieved superior performance for proximate composition (R² = 0.51-0.85 vs 0.10-0.22), major fatty acids (R² = 0.50-0.68 vs 0.01-0.31), and total and heme iron (R² = 0.79–0.93 vs 0.46-0.91). Moreover, scanning individual samples and averaging spectra yielded better prediction models than direct scanning of pooled samples, with good accuracies for moisture, protein, fat content, major saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and iron. Conversely, poor prediction (R² < 0.40) was observed for polyunsaturated fatty acids, TBARS, carnosine, anserine, zinc, selenium and B‑group vitamins. Overall, Vis/NIR spectroscopy showed strong potential for beef quality assessment, although further optimization is required for portable devices.
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BibTeX
@article{lopez2026visiblenear,
title = {{Visible/Near infrared spectroscopy in muscle beef analysis: how device choice and sampling affect prediction accuracy}},
author = {A. Lopez and Jean-François Hocquette and Benoit Graulet and Isabelle Constant and Cyril Labonne and Véronique Santé-Lhoutellier and S. de Smet and A. Mouhanna and F. Soglia and M. Estevez and C.L. Manuelian and M. de Marchi and Bruno Martin and Donato Andueza},
journal = {Meat Science},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.meatsci.2026.110228},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05759891v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Visible/Near infrared spectroscopy in muscle beef analysis: how device choice and sampling affect prediction accuracy
AU - A. Lopez
AU - Jean-François Hocquette
AU - Benoit Graulet
AU - Isabelle Constant
AU - Cyril Labonne
AU - Véronique Santé-Lhoutellier
AU - S. de Smet
AU - A. Mouhanna
AU - F. Soglia
AU - M. Estevez
AU - C.L. Manuelian
AU - M. de Marchi
AU - Bruno Martin
AU - Donato Andueza
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - Meat Science
DO - 10.1016/j.meatsci.2026.110228
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05759891v1
AB - This study evaluated the performance of two portable spectral devices (visible: Vis; near‑infrared: NIR) and one benchtop combined Vis/NIR instrument for predicting beef biochemical traits related to meat quality. A total of 497 muscle samples were collected from 55 fattening farms across five European countries. Reference values were obtained exclusively from pooled samples. For the benchtop device, two sampling strategies were compared: 1) direct scanning of pooled samples (n = 99) used for reference analyses, and 2) scanning individual samples followed by spectral averaging to match pooled references. Partial least squares regression models were developed using several preprocessing methods. For heme iron, predictive performance was also evaluated by separately analyzing the visible region of the benchtop device. Results showed that the benchtop Vis/NIR instrument clearly outperformed the portable devices, providing higher prediction accuracies for all traits across the full spectral range. Compared with portable instruments, the benchtop device achieved superior performance for proximate composition (R² = 0.51-0.85 vs 0.10-0.22), major fatty acids (R² = 0.50-0.68 vs 0.01-0.31), and total and heme iron (R² = 0.79–0.93 vs 0.46-0.91). Moreover, scanning individual samples and averaging spectra yielded better prediction models than direct scanning of pooled samples, with good accuracies for moisture, protein, fat content, major saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, and iron. Conversely, poor prediction (R² < 0.40) was observed for polyunsaturated fatty acids, TBARS, carnosine, anserine, zinc, selenium and B‑group vitamins. Overall, Vis/NIR spectroscopy showed strong potential for beef quality assessment, although further optimization is required for portable devices.
SN - 0309-1740
SN - 0309-1740
ER -