The ability of visible and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy to predict the chemical composition of ground chicken carcasses and to discriminate between carcasses from different genotypes

The potential of visible and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to predict the fat, crude protein (CP) and ash content (g kg(-1) DM) in dry ground chicken carcasses was evaluated. In addition, NIR spectroscopy was used to discriminate between ground carcasses from three different chicken genotypes: fast-growing broiler, slow-growing broiler and a layer-type chicken. When corrected for age and body mass (BM), the fast-growing broiler had the highest fat content and the lowest CP and ash content of the three genotypes. In contrast, the layer genotype had the highest CP and ash content and the lowest fat content. The fat, ash and CP content were intermediate in the slow-growing broilers. Spectra could explain a high proportion of the variability in carcass composition with respect to fat (R-2 = 0.93) and CP (R-2 = 0.86) content but less so for the ash content (R-2 = 0.71). Carcasses could be accurately classified according to chicken genotype or dietary treatment using NIR. However discrimination between male and female birds was not so clear, probably because all the birds used in the study were sexually immature.