In this context, a new technology based on Near Infrared
Spectroscopy (NIRS) arises for rapid analysis of a wide variety
of products and parameters. This technology has been involved
in an exciting evolution process during the last thirty years,
exhibiting nowadays an excellent reputation as an accurate and
reproducible technique for qualitative and quantitative analysis
in many fields like agro-food, pharmaceutical and chemical
industries, human health, environmental studies, etc. There are
evidences showing that NIRS technology can fulfil the requirements
stated by this sector, as it has been demonstrated in
specific works, where there were obtained quantitative models
to predict fatty acid contents in pig fat (sub-cutaneous or
intramuscular) or qualitative models to classify animals based
on their products’ NIR spectra [1–3,7–9]. The potential of NIR
technology for the prediction of fatty acid profiles has been
recently documented for a wide range of products, like
vegetable oils [10,11]; fish oil [12]; rabbit and beef meat
[13,14]; and egg yolk [15].