Acoustic Characterization Study of Beef Loins Using Ultrasonic Transducers
Antonio Jiménez,
Montaña Rufo,
Jesús M. Paniagua,
Alberto González-Mohino,
Teresa Antequera,
Trinidad Perez-Palacios
Affiliations
Antonio Jiménez
Department of Applied Physics, School of Technology, Research Institute of Meat and Meat Product, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Montaña Rufo
Department of Applied Physics, School of Technology, Research Institute of Meat and Meat Product, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Jesús M. Paniagua
Department of Applied Physics, School of Technology, Research Institute of Meat and Meat Product, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Alberto González-Mohino
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Veterinary, Research Institute of Meat and Meat Product, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Teresa Antequera
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Veterinary, Research Institute of Meat and Meat Product, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Trinidad Perez-Palacios
Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Veterinary, Research Institute of Meat and Meat Product, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
The objective of this study was to non-destructively characterize samples of fresh beef loin by low-intensity ultrasound inspection at various frequencies and to correlate the acoustic parameters of these inspections with quality parameters. In this regard, ultrasonic parameters such as ultrasound pulse velocity (UPV) and variables related to attenuation and frequency components obtained from fast Fourier transform (FFT) were considered. For this, pulsed ultrasonic signal transducers with a frequency of 0.5 and 1.0 MHz were used. Acoustic parameters and those obtained through traditional instrumental analyses (physicochemical and texture) underwent a Pearson correlation analysis. The acoustic determinations revealed numerous significant correlations with the rest of the studied parameters. The results demonstrate that ultrasonic inspection has the ability to characterize samples with a non-destructive nature, and likewise, this methodology can be postulated as a promising predictive tool for determining quality parameters in beef loin samples.
