Quantification and spatial characterization of moisture and NaCl content of Iberian dry-cured ham slices using NIR hyperspectral imaging

• Several calibration models were constructed for NaCl and moisture content.
• A validation method specifically designed for hyperspectral calibrations compared with a classical one.
• Chemical images were obtained for moisture and NaCl content in Iberian dry-cured ham slices.
• Textural analysis was used to study the distribution of NaCl and moisture content.

Hyperspectral imaging technology is increasingly regarded as a powerful tool for the classification and spatial quantification of a wide range of agrofood product properties. Taking into account the difficulties involved in validating hyperspectral calibrations, the models constructed here proved moderately accurate for predicting NaCl content, while good accuracy was obtained for moisture content (Shenk and Westerhouse, 1996) in Iberian dry-cured ham slices. Using spatial information provided by chemical imaging, the distribution of both analytes was characterized by textural analysis as a function of muscle and commercial category.