Comparison of two methods for estimation the chemical composition of porcine meat

The aim of the study was to compare the conventional method of estimation of chemical composition of porcine meat with near infrared transmittance (NIT) technique. The investigations were carried out on 42 fatteners (females to castrated males 1:1 ratio) originating from commercial mass population. Protein, intramuscular fat and water content were estimated in LD muscle using traditional methods, and simultaneously with the NIT technique, using Infratec Meat Analyzer. The results obtained showed small precision of measurements of intramuscular fat content by NIT. However, high and significant correlation coefficient between the methods analysed cannot justify the total disqualification of NIT for rapid determination of protein and water content mostly in meat and processed meat. Further investigations on more numerical groups of fatteners seem necessary to verify the results reported here.