but to our
knowledge there are no studies that have evaluated the ability of NIRS
to estimate the FA composition of subcutaneous fat in beef. In
comparison with pork, the current study shows stronger predictions
than those obtained by for C18:1, C18:2
and C18:3 content in the subcutaneous fat of swine when NIR spectra
were collected on fat extracted with solvents (R2=0.83, 0.77 and 0.59;
respectively) or when melted using microwaves (R2=0.81, 0.69 and
0.40; respectively). In the present study the spectra were collected on
intact frozen-thawed subcutaneous fat whereas in the study the fat underwent significant treatment
before spectral collection, which could have negatively influenced the
strength of the predictions. Indeed,
showed better results when scanning intact the subcutaneous fat of
swine for C18:2 (R2=0.91), which was similar to the accuracy of the
predictions in the current study.