Rapid Authentication of Andean Flours via Infrared Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography
Date
2014-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
In recent years consumers in the United States have become more health conscious and have placed much more importance on a food’s nutritional benefits. Andean grain flours exhibit many of the desired nutritional characteristics, such as high protein content, presence of essential amino acids, good source of dietary fiber, and being rich in the “heart healthy” Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Due to the increased demand for these healthy grain alternatives there is risk of adulteration with less-expensive grains. The experimental goal was to develop a non- destructive analytical method that could swiftly categorize Andean flours based on flour type and separate pure grain flours from adulterated mixes. Pure Andean flours and ingredients were provided by Universidad Nacional Agraria la Molina (UNALM) (Lima, Peru). Whereas, commercial samples of the grain flours were attained from various local markets (Lima, Peru). Spectral data was collected from the Andean grain flours using a portable attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mid-infrared spectrometer equipped with a diamond crystal. Fat was extracted from the grain samples, analyzed with gas chromatography, and the data was used to create fatty acid profiles. The results show that samples could be separated by flour type based on spectral data and fatty acid profiles. The fatty acid profile showed differences in composition of major fatty acids (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2) present in flours, helping to identify potential adulterated samples. Additionally, the data shows that there was some prevalence of adulteration in market samples. Overall, a rapid analytical method was found that can be used “in-field” and provides the accurate recognition of adulterated food ingredients, making it a great alternative to conventional testing methods.
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Keywords
Andean, flour, infrared, spectroscopy, chromatography