Agriculture, Food & Beverage NMR Analysis

Quality control for consistency of food products from field to fork is of prime concern to manufacturers and consumers alike. Making products that look, smell and taste good ensures consumers come back for more. So, with an ever-growing population demanding more food products than ever before, simple instrumental test methods are required to provide quick and reproducible data from the field to the factory via the shopping cart to the consumer. For example, the measurement of oil and fats are invaluable in the control of many foods, particularly in snack food products such as potato chips. In a similar way, the quality of the simple bar of chocolate may be judged its solid fat content using a rapid measurement which will determine a perfect product while on the farm, oil in seeds is vital to productivity and yield, ultimately dictating the price the farmer is paid for his products.

Quality control for consistency of products at maximum yield produced in the most environmentally friendly yet cost-effective manner is a major driver in today’s agriculture markets.

With an ever-growing population demanding more food products than ever before, simple instrumental test methods are required to provide quick and reproducible data from the farm to the table of the consumer.

Parameters such as the measurement of oil and moisture are invaluable in the control of animal and fish feeds. Similarly, seed quality may also be judged on oil and moisture content with a rapid measurement determining acceptance or rejection and ultimately the price paid by the factory.

Using Benchtop NMR Analyzer for Food Authenticity Screening

Recent advances in benchtop NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) mean that it is suitable as a fast and easy technique for assessing suspected edible oil contamination/adulteration and meat speciation. The system can be used to discriminate between different oil types and provide quantitative information for mixtures. The NMR spectra of triglycerides contain valuable information indicating what the meat species is.