Contactless measurement makes changes in tenderness and freshness visible

A short air impulse combined with optical measurement can record viscoelastic changes in beef without touching the sample. A study published on 26 August evaluated this approach during storage. The device applies a dynamic deformation through airflow and records the optical response; from this it derives parameters such as apparent storage and loss moduli.

As reference values, the team simultaneously determined total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and Warner-Bratzler shear force. During storage, TVB-N increased while shear force declined; the apparent loss modulus also rose markedly, whereas the storage modulus remained largely stable. The PLSR models achieved prediction correlations of 0.736 for TVB-N and 0.741 for shear force. That is a useful relationship, but not a level of precision that can replace reference methods.

The practical attraction lies in repeatable, contact-free measurement. In ageing, chilled storage or in-line control, a rapid, non-destructive reading could help identify lots whose development departs from an expected pattern. The system still needs validation across breeds, muscles, packaging formats, temperatures and commercial conditions. For quality management, it is promising as an additional signal: it does not replace chemistry, microbiology, sensory assessment or shear-force testing, but it could make the use of those controls more targeted.