Near-Infrared Spectral Informative Indicators for Meat and Dairy Products, Bacterial Contamination, and Freshness Evaluation

Abstract Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy opens a new area in biological sciences and engineering by exploring and describing biological systems through a nondestructive monitoring of their interaction with NIR light. Real application of NIR spectroscopy as accurate, fast, and noninvasive method for monitoring of growth of bacteria in meat and milk are presented. Modern spectral instruments and methods of data processing are applied to distinguish infected from noninfected meat and dairy products as well as to perform qualitative and quantitative determination of available bacteria, as an indicator of freshness or spoilage. Mastitis (intramammary infection) is a major problem for the global dairy industry. NIR spectroscopy describes informative patterns in application for somatic cell count determination, distinguishing of healthy and mastitis milk as well as in detection the presence and growth of specific bacteria, based on milk chemical composition changes and their influence on water spectral pattern.