Application of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to the evaluation of carotenoids content in maize

The importance of including antioxidant compounds in the diet is well recognized. These compounds remediate the detrimental activity on animal cells of the so-called reactive oxygen substances (ROS). Many papers have reported on the determination of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic antioxidant compounds present in a large number of vegetables, and all methods involve the extraction from the matrix of the compounds to be determined. Because some problems may arise, such as the completeness of the extraction and the stability of the extracted compound during the extraction steps, the possibility of analyzing these compounds in the native matrix would be useful. Here is reported the application of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to the determination of the content of carotenoids in maize, comparing the obtained data with those derived from high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) determination of the extract obtained from the same samples. Equations for predicting carotenoid content in maize were derived using scores from modified partial least-squares (MPLS) as independent variables. Cross-validation procedures indicated good correlations between HPLC values and NIRS estimates. The results show that NIRS, a well-established and widely applied technique, can be applied to determine the maize carotenoids and that samples are readily analyzed in minutes, the only required step being their grinding.