Post-mortem identification of meat with abnormal autolysis by non-invasive methods

The theme under consideration is of great interest for researchers and practical specialists engaged in the development of methods for identification of meat with different courses of autolysis. In this review, modern non-invasive methods for meat quality assessment are presented. The authors describe methods developed for identification of meat with nontraditional course of autolysis, including determination of electric properties of meat (electrical conductivity, electrical resistance, electrical impedance), optical methods (light scattering, reflection, absorption, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, visible/near/mid-infrared spectroscopy), investigation of physical parameters of meat (determination of meat color coordinates using spectrocolorimeters, nuclear magnetic resonance, ultrasound spectroscopy and others). The results of studies carried out by various researchers on the use of the proposed methods for meat sorting into quality groups and certainty of the obtained data are presented. It is shown that meat quality can be predicted using the obtained values of electrical parameters and optical spectra. Analysis of published materials shows that up to now there is no definite answer to the question about a choice of a method for identification of meat quality group. This problem requires further research and discussion.