Ultrasonic determination of the composition of a meat-based product Original Research Article

The use of ultrasonics as an analytical technique to estimate the composition of a fermented meat-based product (sobrassada) was assessed. Moisture, fat and protein contents and ultrasonic velocity at 4, 8, 12 and 25 °C were measured in samples using different formulae. In this study, it was considered that a meat-based product is formed of three different constituents: fat, water and protein+others. Ultrasonic velocity was related, by a semiempirical equation, to the composition and the ultrasonic velocity of the above three components. The ultrasonic velocity temperature dependence allowed the determination of fat, moisture and protein+others contents. The explained variance was 98.0% for protein+others, 97.6% for fat and 95.6% for moisture. The results obtained show the feasibility of using ultrasonic velocity measurement to assess, in a rapid and non-destructively way, the composition of a meat-based product.