Pollen Raman spectra database: Application to the identification of airborne pollen

Abstract

Raman microspectroscopy allows a non-destructive identification of airborne particles. However, the identification of particles such as pollen is hindered by the absence of a spectral library. Although reference spectra of pollen have been published before, they have always been limited to a certain number of species. In this work, Raman spectra of 34 pollen types are presented and were used to build a pollen spectra primary library. Afterward, the applicability of this database for detecting and identifying pollen in airborne samples was tested. Airborne pollen samples collected during April, May and August were compared with blank pollen spectra by means of Hit Quality Index. Although a much larger library would be required, our results showed that all first hits correspond to the same blank pollen species of the questioned sample from the air. This possibility is an innovative idea and a promising line of investigation for future RAMAN technology development in the area of aerobiology.