a b s t r a c tThe development of a multivariate model for fiber content prediction in sugar cane has been investigated and can be offered as an alternative to the wet methods of analysis. The importance of fiber in bagasse of sugar cane is directly linked to the production of sugar and alcohol performances and to payment systems. The analytical method investigated here was the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) combined with a Partial Least Squares (PLS) chemometric tool that can achieve the best model to predict fiber content in sugar cane. A total of 6287 spectra of raw samples of sugar cane bagasse was evaluated. The optimum conditions of operation of the equipment for the acquisition of the most sensitive LIBS signals were tested through Design of Experiments (DOE).
This study shows the use of time-domain (TD)-NMR transverse relaxation (T2) data and chemometrics in the nondestructive determination of fat content for powdered food samples such as commercial dried milk products. Most proposed NMR spectroscopy methods for measuring fat content correlate free induction decay or echo intensities with the sample's mass. The need for the sample's mass limits the analytical frequency of NMR determination, because weighing the samples is an additional step in this procedure. Therefore, the method proposed here is based on a multivariate model of T2 decay, measured with Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill pulse sequence and reference values of fat content. The TD-NMR spectroscopy method shows high correlation (r = 0.95) with the lipid content, determined by the standard extraction method of Bligh and Dyer. For comparison, fat content determination was also performed using a multivariate model with near-IR (NIR) spectroscopy, which is also a nondestructive method. The advantages of the proposed TD-NMR method are that it (1) minimizes toxic residue generation, (2) performs measurements with high analytical frequency (a few seconds per analysis), and (3) does not require sample preparation (such as pelleting, needed for NIR spectroscopy analyses) or weighing the samples.
This study describes the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the direct determination of Ca, K and Mg in powdered milk and solid dietary supplements. The following two calibration strategies were applied: (i) use of the samples to calculate calibration models (milk) and (ii) use of sample mixtures (supplements) to obtain a calibration curve. In both cases, reference values obtained from inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP OES) after acid digestion were used. The emission line selection from LIBS spectra was accomplished by analysing the regression coefficients of partial least squares (PLS) regression models, and wavelengths of 534.947, 766.490 and 285.213nm were chosen for Ca, K and Mg, respectively. In the case of the determination of Ca in supplements, it was necessary to perform a dilution (10-fold) of the standards and samples to minimize matrix interference. The average accuracy for powdered milk ranged from 60% to 168% for Ca, 77% to 152% for K and 76% to 131% for Mg. In the case of dietary supplements, standard error of prediction (SEP) varied from 295 (Mg) to 3782mgkg (Ca). The proposed method presented an analytical frequency of around 60 samples per hour and the step of sample manipulation was drastically reduced, with no generation of toxic chemical residues.
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