A near-infrared spectrometer equipped with surface interactance optical fiber probe (400-1100 nm) was used to determine the fat content in intact sardine Sardinops melanostictus which is considered one of the important fish species of world aquaculture as well as human food source. The fat contents were 2.64–25.52 % and fish weight ranges were between 45.23g and 133.76g. Partial least square regression was used to develop predictive equations for fat where two models (with and without multiplicative scatter correction known as MSC) showed relatively good performances with regression coefficients higher than 0.9 and errors below 1% on a fresh weight basis. Results showed that NIR interactance was a suitable non-destructive screening method for fat content in intact small pelagic fish like sardine.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
