Applications of hyperspectral imaging in meat tenderness detection: Current research and potential for digital twin technology

This review explores the application of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) as an innovative non-destructive method for assessing meat tenderness, a critical quality attribute affecting consumer preference. In the quest for advanced food quality control techniques, HSI stands out for its ability to combine traditional imaging and spectroscopy, thus offering both spatial and spectral information. The review emphasizes the efficacy of HSI in evaluating the tenderness of various meats, including mammalian meats, poultry, and fish. It highlights the limitations of traditional tenderness assessment methods, emphasizing the advantages of HSI as a rapid, non-invasive analysis and the potential for real-time tenderness evolution assessment. Furthermore, the review captured the historical development of HSI, its fundamental components, and its broader applications in food science. The integration of HSI with digital twin technology as the next generation system in meat quality assessment is also discussed, as well as its role in the development of digital twins for real-time monitoring of meat quality. This review is pivotal in the field of food science, offering insights into the future of quality control and process monitoring in the meat industry.