Jessica Roberts

Applications and Developments on the Use of Vibrational Spectroscopy Imaging for the Analysis, Monitoring and Characterisation of Crops and Plants

The adaptation and use of advanced technologies is an effective and encouraging way to efficiently and reliably characterise crops and plants. Additionally advances in these technologies will improve the information available for agronomists, breeders and plant physiologists in order to develop best management practices in the process and commercialization of agricultural products and commodities. Methods based on vibrational spectroscopy such as near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy using either single spot or hyperspectral measurements are now more available and ready to use than ever before. The main characteristics of these methodologies (high-throughput, non-destructive) have determined a growth in basic and applied research using NIR spectroscopy in many disciplines related with crop and plant sciences. A wide range of studies have demonstrated the ability of NIR spectroscopy to analyse different parameters in crops. Recently the use of hyperspectral imaging techniques have expanded the range of applications in crop and plant sciences. This article provides an overview of applications and developments of NIR hyperspectral image for the analysis, monitoring and characterisation of crops and plants.

Origin and Regionality of Wines—the Role of Molecular Spectroscopy

The origin of wine has an important relevance not only in relation to the sustainability of the production systems but also in relation to wine quality, having great impact in terms of the economy of small producer. Terms such as protected geographical status (PGS), protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI) and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) are been used to characterise wines from different regions and countries. Despite the number of papers and reports published in the literature in relation to issues such as authenticity and discrimination in wine, few reports can be found that explore the use of molecular spectroscopy to specifically target denomination of origin. This report reviews the use of molecular spectroscopy to address such issues within the wine industry.

There is gold in them hills: Predicting potential acid mine drainage events through the use of chemometrics

Disused mines and mining legacy require significant manpower to ameliorate the contaminated environmental surroundings following their disbanding coupled with extraordinary funding to manage these issues. Water (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductance, metals, sulphate) and total suspended solids (TSS) quality are environmental parameters that are affected by legacy mining activity and often require monitoring and rapid response if events (e.g. rainfall) occur which might affect the surrounding areas. In this study, we have monitored a famous mine site in Queensland, Australia for a number of water and sediment parameters known to be associated with acid mine drainage. This study performed analysis of water and sediment over three years, as well as rainfall data. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression was undertaken to investigate the data obtained. It was found that the use of PCA can predict the effect of year and site on the environmental influence of the abandoned mine site, based on the combination of chemical properties and meteorological data.

A Feasibility Study on the Potential Use of Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy to Analyze Meat in Live Animals: Discrimination of Muscles

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been proposed as a potential method to analyze different properties in live animals and humans, as infrared light has the ability to penetrate living tissues. This study evaluated the potential use of NIR spectroscopy to identify and analyze beef muscles through the skin nondestructively. The results from this study demonstrated that the NIR region has the potential to noninvasively monitor some properties of meat associated with either fat or muscle characteristics and to differentiate either muscle or fat tissue analyzed through the skin. At present, there are no rapid and noninvasive tools to monitor and assess any characteristic or property in live beef animals. Although these results look promising, more experiments and research need to be carried out before recommending the beef industry using this technology in live animals.

Handling complexity in animal and plant science research-from single to functional traits: Are we there yet?

The current knowledge of the main factors governing livestock, crop and plant quality as well as yield in different species is incomplete. For example, this can be evidenced by the persistence of benchmark crop varieties for many decades in spite of the gains achieved over the same period. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that molecular breeding based on DNA markers has led to advances in breeding (animal and crops). However, these advances are not in the way that it was anticipated initially by the researcher in the field. According to several scientists, one of the main reasons for this was related to the evidence that complex target traits such as grain yield, composition or nutritional quality depend on multiple factors in addition to genetics. Therefore, some questions need to be asked: are the current approaches in molecular genetics the most appropriate to deal with complex traits such as yield or quality? Are the current tools for phenotyping complex traits enough to differentiate among genotypes? Do we need to change the way that data is collected and analysed?

Unfrazzled by Fizziness: Identification of Beers Using Attenuated Total Reflectance Mid-infrared Spectroscopy and Multivariate Analysis

Mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy coupled with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) was used to analyse a series of different beer types in order to confirm their identity (e.g. ale vs lager, commercial vs craft beer). Multivariate data analyses such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to analyse and to discriminate the beer samples analysed based on their infrared spectra. Correct classification rates of 100% were achieved in order to differentiate between ale and lager and also between commercial and craft beer sample types, respectively. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated the capability of MIR spectroscopy combined with PLS-DA to classify beer samples according to style (ale vs lager) and production (commercial vs craft). Furthermore, dissolved gases in the beer products were proven not to interfere as overlapping artefacts in the analysis. The benefits of using MIR-ATR for rapid and detailed analysis coupled with multivariate analysis can be considered a valuable tool for researchers and brewers interested in quality control, traceability and food adulteration. The novelty of this study is potentially far reaching, whereby customs and agencies can utilise these methods to mitigate beverage fraud.

Comparison of Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction with Static Extraction as Pre-Processing Method Before Gas Chromatography Analysis of Cereal Lipids

A pre-processing method for the extraction of fatty acids from cereal grains is described. Ultrasound (sonication)-assisted extraction was compared to a static extraction method as the pre-processing method before gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis of barley, sorghum and corn grain samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to identify patterns in the chromatographic data and classify the samples based on the extraction treatment (sonication vs static). The results of the PCA clearly distinguish between the sonication and static samples. It was observed that the ultrasound-assisted extraction impacted the chromatographs of the grain samples, a factor which simplifies the interpretation of the data. In addition, the results showed the ability of using multivariate technique such as PCA to improve data interpretation.

The Use of Qualitative Analysis in Food Research and Technology: Considerations and Reflections from an Applied Point of View

The application of qualitative analytical techniques is usually associated with the analysis of data sets targeting issues related with the presence or absence of a particular class or type of sample, pattern recognition and cluster analysis. In food sciences, these techniques are generally used to deal with the authenticity, classification, discrimination, fraud and origin of foods. In recent years, qualitative analysis became more relevant in both food research and industry applications, addressing fraud and traceability concerns in the food value chain. In this overview, some of the most common classification methods and techniques used in food sciences will be briefly described, with emphasis on the validation, interpretation and reporting of the results obtained.

Countering the ‘Fake News’ of Food: The Role of Chemometrics With Vibrational Spectroscopy Techniques

Fraud is a billion dollar business which affect the food industry worldwide. The concerns on this practice are not limited to financial repercussions to the manufacture company, but also with the use of inferior quality materials of the adulterated products as these products can severely influence human health. Recently, considerable scientific effort has been devoted to creating robust and reliable methodologies of analysis to be implemented. The need for rapid, accurate and sensitive detection methods to detect and monitor adulterations in foods has been one of the main objectives in the food industry. Vibrational spectroscopy and the role of chemometrics in extracting chemically-relevant information have led to the development of several applications in the field of fraud adulteration.