Rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REIMS) is a novel, in-situ analysis technology that measures the metabolomic profile in real time. The objective of this study was to evaluate REIMS as a real-time predictor of pork belly quality and fat composition to subsequently send market signals and value hogs based on objective measurements and ultimately improve the composition and quality of pork products. REIMS proved to be an effective technology in segregating individual pork bellies based on bacon yields, cook loss, and fatty acid composition. The use of metabolomic profiles collected in real-time and in-situ using REIMS characterized differences in degree of saturation of fat, which in turn, translated to higher quality bellies with a greater proportion of premium #1 slices. More remarkably, using the crudest and most conservative model building approach, REIMS was able to classify a test set of samples into the predetermined quality groups with a high degree of accuracy. This study showed the ability of REIMS to accurately predict pork belly quality and fat composition to subsequently send market signals and value hogs based on objective measurements to ultimately improve the composition and quality of pork products.

Key Findings:

  1. REIMS data were used to categorize individual samples into “Excellent”, “Great”, “Good”, and “Poor” quality groups.
  2. The samples grouped by REIMS had meaningful differences in overall fat quality and bacon performance.
  3. The use of metabolomic profiles collected in real-time and in-situ using REIMS characterized differences in degree of saturation of fat, which in turn, translated to higher quality bellies with a greater proportion of premium #1 slices.
  4. Using the crudest and most conservative model building approach, REIMS was able to classify a test set of samples into the predetermined quality groups with a high degree of accuracy.