Differentiation of Muscle Abnormalities in Turkey Breast Meat in Palestinian Market by Using VIS-NIR Spectroscopy

Abstract

White striping defects in poultry meat is an emerging and growing problem. The main purpose of this study was to employ the reflectance of visible-near infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy to predict and differentiate the quality traits of different levels of white striping defects. Accordingly, 34 out of 60 turkey breast fillets were selected representing a different level of white striping defects (normal, moderate, and severe). Data of VIS-NIR were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA). It was found that the first principal component (PC1) for VIS, NIR and VIS-NIR region explained 98%, 97% and 96% of the total variation, respectively. PCA showed high performance to differentiate normal meat from abnormal meat (moderate and severe white striping). Color indexes (L*= lightness, a*= redness and b*= yellowness), pH, marinade uptake, drip loss, cooking loss and chemical composition (moisture, fat, protein and ash) have been evaluated. Our findings showed that prediction models using partial least squares (PLS) were good for color indexes, pH and chemical composition in particular for normal and severe white striped meat. In conclusion, the results of this research showed that VIS-NIR spectroscopy was satisfactory to differentiate normal from severe white striping turkey fillets by using several quality traits.