Preliminary investigation into the use of Raman spectroscopy for the verification of Australian grass and grain fed beef

Bridgette G Logan; David L Hopkins; Leigh Schmidtke; Stephen Morris; Stephanie M Fowler

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107970

Preliminary investigation into the use of Raman spectroscopy for the verification of Australian grass and grain fed beef

Meat Sci. 2020 Feb:160:107970. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107970. Epub 2019 Oct 17.

Authors

Bridgette G Logan¹, David L Hopkins², Leigh Schmidtke³, Stephen Morris⁴, Stephanie M Fowler²

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Red Meat and Sheep Development, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, Australia; Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia; School of Agricultural and Wine Science, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia. Electronic address: bridgette.logan@dpi.nsw.gov.au.
² Centre for Red Meat and Sheep Development, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, Australia; Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
³ National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
⁴ Wollongbar Primary Industries Institute, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wollongbar, Australia.

PMID: 31655243
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107970

Abstract

Australian grass and grain-fed beef products attract premium prices at sale and several beef processors market beef underwritten by production system claims. This preliminary investigation assessed the feasibility of using Raman spectroscopy to detect differences in the chemical composition of subcutaneous fat from cattle raised in extensive and intensive production systems. Raman spectra, fatty acid composition, β-carotene composition and objective colour measurements were measured on 150 grass and 150 grain-fed cattle. Spectral differences at peaks including 1069 cm^-1, 1127 cm^-1, 1301 cm^-1 and 1445 cm^-1 suggest that Raman spectra is able to detect differences in saturated fatty acids, which were significantly higher in carcases from grain-fed cattle. Differences in spectra at 1658 cm^-1 were observed, however further research is required to investigate the cause of this spectral feature. Overall, this study indicated that Raman spectroscopy is a potential tool for the authentication of beef carcases from grass and grain-fed production systems.

Keywords: Fatty acid composition; Food fraud; Grass fed; Raman spectroscopy.

MeSH terms

Animal Feed / analysis*
Animals
Australia
Cattle
Color
Diet / veterinary
Edible Grain*
Fatty Acids / analysis
Poaceae*
Red Meat / analysis*
Spectrum Analysis, Raman / methods*
beta Carotene / analysis

Substances

Fatty Acids
beta Carotene