Keywords: glycogen, moisture content, Japanese wagyu beef, FT-NIR, PLSR (MSC) yielded optimum results with R p 2 of 0.795, RMSEP of 2.669%, and RPD of 2.008. The results of this study demonstrated that NIR spectroscopy offers great potential for the prediction of glycogen and moisture contents in Japanese wagyu beef samples. effect on Japanese consumers' preference owing to the improvement in beef quality such as tenderness. (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) This is consistent with the conclusion that tenderness is the most important factor affecting beef palatability. (8)(9)(10)(11) However, additional studies have shown that when tenderness is at an acceptable level, flavor becomes the next most important factor affecting the beef preference of consumers. (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) Flavor is a complex concept, which is composed of taste, odor, and the interaction of these factors. In our previous work, a sensory panel test was used to determine the relationship between sensory attributes (e.g., sweetness, fattiness, aroma, tenderness, flavor, and overall evaluation) and chemical composition characteristics (e.g., moisture, protein, free amino acid, glycogen, and fatty acid contents) of Japanese wagyu beef by the simmering method. (16) We demonstrated that the 'flavor' of sensory attributes was associated with glycogen and moisture contents. It has been widely reported that pre rigor muscle glycogen content has a negative curvilinear relationship with ultimate pH, (17) which is an indicator of the final palatability of meat. (18,19) In addition, the glycogen content in the muscle is related to the amounts of monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose after slaughter, which affect the development of meat flavor via the Maillard reaction; therefore, glycogen contributes to beef palatability. (20) Moisture content is often used to assess meat quality. (21) It also has a strong relationship with the contents of lipids that affect sensory attributes such as flavor, juiciness, texture, and appearance. (22) Therefore, to satisfy an increasing demand for evaluating meat quality by either the meat processing industry or consumers, fast, accurate, and nondestructive methods are urgently required.In recent years, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, which is based on optical measurements of reflectance, transmittance, and interactance, has been considered as a nondestructive, fast, convenient, inexpensive, and precise technique. NIR spectroscopy combined with various multivariable data processing techniques has been effectively employed. Applications of the NIR technique to the evaluation of meat quality have been reviewed. (23) The NIR technique has the potential of detecting meat adulteration, (24,25) assessing meat microbial spoilage, (26,27) and estimating meat quality. (28,29) Nowadays, several research studies on Japanese wagyu beef have shown that NIR spectroscopy can be applied to predict the fat content and quantify the fatty acid composition. Kobayashi et al. have demonstrated the correlation between fat content and spectral infor...