Rapid detection of common wheat flour addition to durum wheat flour and pasta using spectroscopic methods and chemometrics

Abstract

Attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIRS), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) combined with chemometrics were used to determine common wheat (Triticum aestivum) flour in durum wheat (Triticum durum) flour and common wheat farina addition to durum wheat pasta. The main objective of this study was to determine the most suitable spectroscopic method(s) to predict adulteration level in flour and pasta. It was found that among the spectroscopic methods tested, ATR-FTIRS had the lowest limit of detection (LOD) values for blended flour (0.68%) and pasta samples (0.49%). The coefficients of determination (R2) values of the prediction curves for ATR-FTIRS were found as 0.900 and 0.903 for flour and pasta samples, respectively. Similarly, R2 for the prediction of NIRS was 0.867 and 0.895 for flour and pasta samples, respectively. Since, NIR spectroscopy is widely used in food industry for quality control, it might have a good potential to detect the adulteration of common wheat flour in durum wheat flour and farina in the durum wheat pasta. SFS demonstrated a weaker predictive ability for low levels of adulteration with its higher root mean square error of prediction (10.750). The study demonstrated that ATR-FTIRS had better specificity and accuracy compared to other spectroscopic methods for the detection of adulteration.