LAUSR

Abstract Beef jerky samples immersed in brine or water, both with and without ultrasound treatment were dried at 60 °C for 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 min. Drying behaviour was evaluated using ten drying kinetic models and hyperspectral imaging. All samples reached water activity values (Aw)  4, indicating their suitability for process control applications. The best performing MC prediction models for the non-ultrasound and ultrasound treated samples were developed using the ensemble Monte Carlo variable selection (EMCVS) on second derivative of log(1/R) spectra and EMCVS-selectivity ratio on linear detrended log (1/R) spectra, respectively. This study demonstrated the potential of NIR-HSI and chemometrics as a PAT tool for drying of beef jerky.