Monitoring of bacterial contamination on chicken meat surface using a novel narrowband spectral index derived from hyperspectral imagery data

This study presents a novel narrowband spectral index for monitoring bacterial contamination on chicken meat surface. Fresh chicken meats were prepared and stored aerobically in a refrigerator at 4 °C for 11 d. Hyperspectral images and the total viable count (TVC) of bacteria for meat samples were obtained every 24 h. A new two band freshness index (TBFI) method was proposed for developing the bacteria prediction models. Results indicated that the model with the TBFI based on the wavelengths 650 and 700 nm achieved the optimal estimation of TVC (R2 = 0.6833). The TBFI value for each image pixel was calculated using the above two wavelengths, and then used to predict the TVC for the corresponding pixel on the image. Finally, the predicted TVC were visualized to illustrate the temporal variation and spatial distribution of viable bacteria on meat surface over storage. The results demonstrate the promising potential of the developed TBFI for the detection of viable bacteria contamination on chicken meat surface.