| Abstract
| - Methodology was developed and evaluated for the rapid detection of castor bean meal (CBM)containing the toxic protein ricin by using Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopyand multivariate techniques. The method is intended to be a prototype to develop a more generalapproach to detect food tampering. Measurements were made on an FT-NIR system using a diffusereflection-integrating sphere. Flours spiked with caffeine, crystalline sugar, and corn meal, 1−20%w/w, were used as test articles to evaluate the methodologies. Food matrices (bleached flour, wheatflour, and blueberry pancake mix) spiked with CBM (0.5−8% w/w) were analyzed. Multiplicativescatter correction transformed partial least-squares regression models, using a specific NIR spectralregion, predicted CBM contamination in foods with a standard error of cross-validation of <0.6%and a coefficient of determination (R2) of >94%. Models discriminated between flour samplescontaminated with CBM and other protein sources (egg white, soybean meal, tofu, and infantformula). CBM had loading spectra with bands characteristic of amide groups (4880 and 4555 cm-1)and lipids (5800, 5685, 4340, and 4261 cm-1). Keywords: FT-NIR spectroscopy; food contaminants; castor bean meal
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