Alps food authentication, typicality and intrinsic quality by near infrared spectroscopy

Abstract Alpine agriculture is increasingly pressurized by market liberalization offering huge amounts of cheap produced food stuff. Therefore, it is extremely important pointing out the added value of those products from alpine agriculture and to give confidence to consumers. In the present contribution the efficiency of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for Alps food authentication, typicality and intrinsic quality is assessed, summarized and discussed for three typical products including apple, meat and cheese. The methods developed so far are described in detail and discussed exhaustively. The sample set consisted of well selected and defined 415 apples, 85 meat and 19 cheese samples. Multivariate analytical approaches resulted in the formation of cluster plots giving substantial optimism that this technique will be employed for the non-destructive, fast, cheap and potent identification of Alps food.