Potential of chlorophyll-rich feed ingredients to improve detection of fecal contamination in the abattoir.

The use of fecal fluorescence to improve detection of contamination of carcasses in the abattoir was previously reported. However, incidents of false negatives can result when animals are offered diets that contain little chlorophyll (e.g.

Boar taint detection using parasitoid biosensors.

The off-flavor boar taint associated with the substances skatole, androstenone, and possibly indole represents a significant problem in the pig husbandry industry. Boar taint may occur in meat from uncastrated sexually mature male pigs; consumers commonly show a strong aversion to tainted meat. Consequently, there is a need for rapid methods to sort out and remove tainted carcasses at the slaughterline.

Natural faecal fluorophores and the potential of chlorophyll based markers to optimise fluorescence as a real-time solution for the detection of faecal contamination on carcasses.

More accurate and sensitive visualisation of faecal contamination in the abattoir would significantly reduce the risk posed by harbouring pathogenic micro-organisms. We carried out a preliminary investigation of the range of fluorophores found naturally in faeces from typical ruminant diets. Sixteen ewes were offered either: i) fresh forage (FF), ii) grass silage (GS), iii) grass hay (GH) or iv) concentrate and barley straw (CB).

Noncontact salt and fat distributional analysis in salted and smoked salmon fillets using X-ray computed tomography and NIR interactance imaging.

To be able to monitor the salting process of cold smoked salmon, a nondestructive imaging technique for salt analysis is required. This experiment showed that X-ray computed tomography (CT) can be used for nondestructive distributional analysis of NaCl in salmon fillets during salting, salt equilibration, and smoking. The combination of three X-ray voltages (80, 110, and 130 kV) gave the best CT calibrations for NaCl, with a prediction error (root mean square error of cross-validation, RMSECV) of 0.

Effect of oxygen concentration on photo-oxidation and photosensitizer bleaching in butter.

The effect of headspace oxygen concentration and color of light on photo-oxidation and degradation of photosensitizers in butter was studied. Butter samples were stored under 0%, 0.4%, 0.