Near infrared spectroscopy offers an alternative to wet chemical methods for determining the composition of a diverse range of materials. This physical method requires only a single instrument and although this can be expensive initially, the cost per sample analysed is relatively low when compared with many chemical methods. If it is to be applied in a quantitative way near infrared spectroscopy requires calibration against chemical methods, but once calibrated the instrument is simple to use and there are few operator-induced sources of error. The objective of this work was to evaluate near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) as a technique for assessing the composition of carcass samples from young steers.

Seventy-one, approximately 9-month-old, British Friesian steers with live weights ranging from 106 to 265kg were slaughtered. The left half carcass (including the left kidney and kidney knob and channel fat) was retained, blast frozen and subsequently minced in the frozen state through a 10mm plate of a KS Mincemaster.