Non-destructive determination of fat content in green hams using ultrasound and X-rays

Meat Sci. 2015 Jun:104:37-43. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2015.01.015. Epub 2015 Feb 7.

Abstract

This work addresses the use of ultrasound (US) and medical dual energy X-ray absorptiometry methods to predict the fat content in green pork hams. Ultrasonic velocity (υ) and X-ray absorption were measured in 78 green hams. An increase in the fat content involved an increase in υ and a decrease in the X-ray attenuation measured at 2°C. Models developed to predict the fat content from the ultrasonic velocity or X-ray parameters provided errors of 2.97% and 4.65%, respectively. The combination of both US and X-ray technologies did not improve prediction accuracy. These models allowed green hams to be classified into three levels of fatness, with 88.5% and 65.4% of the hams correctly classified when using models based on ultrasonic and X-ray parameters, respectively. Therefore, US and X-rays emerge as useful quality control technologies with which to estimate the fat content in green pork hams.

Keywords: Green ham; Meat products; Non-destructive analysis; Ultrasound; X-rays.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Absorptiometry, Photon / methods*
  • Animals
  • Dietary Fats / analysis*
  • Food Analysis / methods
  • Humans
  • Meat / analysis*
  • Meat / classification
  • Swine
  • Ultrasonic Waves
  • Ultrasonography / methods*
  • X-Rays

Substances

  • Dietary Fats