Ruiz Darbonnens, MartaBeriain Apesteguía, María JoséBeruete Díaz, MiguelInsausti Barrenetxea, KizkitzaLorenzo, José M.Sarriés Martínez, María Victoria2020-07-032020-07-0320202304-815810.3390/foods9050583https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/37310The aim of this work was to study the potential of mid-infrared spectroscopy to evaluate the chemical composition and quality parameters of foal meat according to differences based on slaughter ages and finishing diets. In addition, the wavelength ranges which contribute to this meat quality differentiation were also determined. Important characteristics as moisture and total lipid content were well predicted using Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy (MIR) with Rv2 values of 82% and 66%, respectively. Regarding fatty acids, the best models were obtained for arachidonic, vaccenic, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with Rv2 values over 65%. Quality parameters, as instrumental colour and texture and sensory attributes did not reach high prediction coefficients (R2). With the spectra data of the region 2198–1118 cm-1, samples were accurately classified according to slaughter age (78%) and finishing diet (72%). This preliminary research shows the potential of MIR spectroscopy as an alternative tool to traditional meat chemical composition methods. Finally, the wavelength range of the spectrum from 2198 to 1118 cm-1 showed good results for classification purposes.16 p.application/pdfeng© 2020 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.MIR spectroscopyFoal meatChemical compositionQuality parametersinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAcceso abierto / Sarbide irekia