Investigation of NIR hyperspectral imaging for discriminating melamine in milk powder

Abstract

Melamine (2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine) contamination of food has become an urgent and broadly recognized issue for which rapid and accurate identification methods are needed by the food industry. In this study, the feasibility and effectiveness of near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging was investigated for detecting melamine in milk powder. Hyperspectral NIR images (144 bands spanning from 990 to 1700 nm) were acquired for Petri dishes containing samples of milk powder mixed with melamine at various concentrations (0.02% to 1%). Spectral bands that showed the most significant differences between pure milk and pure melamine were selected, and two-band difference analysis was applied to the spectrum of each pixel in the sample images to identify melamine particles in milk powders. The resultant images effectively allowed visualization of melamine particle distributions in the samples. The study demonstrated that NIR hyperspectral imaging techniques can qualitatively and quantitatively identify melamine adulteration in milk powders.