Rapid determination of the textural properties of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy and chemometrics

Determining texture of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS), coupled with chemometrics, although both feasible and relevant to the fish industry, has not been fully exploited. In this study, a total of 150 samples were analyzed using NIRS in the range of 1000-1799 nm. Six textural properties (water holding capacity, hardness, resilience, springiness, chewiness, and shear force) were determined. Partial least squares regression combined with spectral preprocessing and wavelengths selection were applied to develop the calibration models. The predictive ability of the models was further confirmed by external validation. The results were quite satisfactory with a coefficient of determination for the validation set of 0.95, 0.89, 0.87, 0.83, 0.92, and 0.86, and a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.10, 0.54, 0.08, 0.96, 2.63, and 0.41 N for water holding capacity, hardness, resilience, springiness, chewiness, and shear force, respectively. The overall results demonstrated that NIRS combined with chemometrics is a powerful tool to determine textural properties in fish flesh.