Fecha de publicación: 28/01/2009 Fuente: WIPO "meat" The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for estimating the tenderness of meat comprising scanning a sample of meat through an x-ray beam; detecting or measuring the transmitted x-ray radiation through the meat sample; relating the transmitted x-ray radiation to a characteristic of the shear force of the meat sample; and assessing the tenderness of the meat sample from the characteristic of the shear force.