Detection of fungal contamination in corn: potential of FTIR-PAS and -DRS
1992
Greene, R.V. | Gordon, S.H. | Jackson, M.A. | Bennett, G.A.
Evaluation of agricultural grains, such as corn, suffers from a lack of techniques that can analyze solid materials. Two techniques, photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), were coupled to a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to provide information about the mid-infrared absorption spectra of corn. Spectra generated from corn that was infected with Fusarium moniliforme or Aspergillus flavus, two mycotoxin producers, were dramatically different from those of uninfected corn. ForF. moniliforme, enhanced spectral differences were associated with elevated culture toxicity. Preliminary studies to appraise the sensitivity of the methodology were conducted utilizing DRS. These indicated that spectra of corn contaminated at the 3% level (dry weight basis) with F. moniliforme were distinguishable from spectral variations associated with compositional divergence of different corn varieties. PAS was a more sensitive technique for detecting such fungal contaminations. Unfortunately, from a practical standpoint, PAS can presently analyze only one intact kernel at a time.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by National Agricultural Library