Infrared Spectroscopy‐Based Metabolomic Analysis for the Detection of Preharvest Sprouting in Grain

Preharvest sprouting of grains causes significant losses to growers and buyers. The problem occurs throughout the world, and economic losses can be millions of dollars. Visual assessment of germination is ineffective because even grains showing no external signs (e.g., having a visible shoot) may still have germinated sufficiently so that it is no longer possible for high‐quality products to be made from them. Current procedures to determine whether a grain has germinated are based around measuring enzyme or starch levels. However, despite protracted efforts to develop enhanced ways to measure germination over the last 50 years, there are currently no sufficiently accurate or reliable approaches available. The present work assesses the potential for infrared spectroscopy‐based metabolomic profiling to assess the germination of barley and wheat. The results indicate that mid‐ and near‐infrared spectroscopy are able to determine if the grain has germinated and give an indication of how long the germination process has been occurring. Both techniques are already well established in the grain industry and have the potential to form the basis of a simple, fast dockside test that would allow segregation of sound and mildly sprouted grain.     

Application of multielement stable isotope ratio analysis to the characterization of French, italian, and spanish cheeses

The stable isotope ratios (delta13C, delta15N, and delta34S of casein and delta13C and delta18O of glycerol) measured by IRMS of French, Italian, and Spanish cheeses are presented and discussed. Variability factors such as animal-feeding regimen, geographical origin, and climatic and seasonal conditions were studied to check the possibilities of cheese characterization offered by each isotopic parameter. Delta13C values of both casein and glycerol appeared to be strongly correlated to the amount of maize in the animal diet. Delta15N and delta34S of casein proved to be mostly influenced by the geoclimatic conditions of the area (aridity, closeness to the sea, altitude). Delta18O of glycerol was more dependent on the geographical origin of the cheeses and on climatic/seasonal parameters. By applying a multivariate stepwise canonical discriminant analysis, good discrimination possibilities for the different European cheeses were obtained, confirmed by the classification analysis, when >90% of the samples were correctly reclassified.