Determination of faecal fat by near-infrared spectroscopy

The applicability of near-infrared spectroscopy to determine the amount of fat in faeces has been investigated. Near-infrared spectroscopy was favourably compared with the well known titrimetric method (Van de Kamer et al., J Biol Chem 1948; 177:347-55). A good correlation between near-infrared spectroscopy and the titrimetric method was found. The measurement of faecal fat by near-infrared spectroscopy is found to be more precise than the manual method. Moreover, near-infrared spectroscopy is shown to be a very simple and rapid method for measuring fat in faeces. However, it was shown that performing one's own calibration curve is necessary. Due to this necessity and the costs of the apparatus application of near-infrared spectroscopy is especially advantageous in laboratories with a substantial amount of samples to be analysed.