NIR Spectroscopy for Food Quality Assessment

What is NIR Spectroscopy?

NIR spectroscopy measures the absorption of near-infrared light (780-2500 nm) by organic molecules. The resulting spectra contain information about chemical bonds, particularly O-H, C-H, and N-H bonds found in proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and water.

Chemometric Methods for NIR Data

• PLS Regression — predicts quantitative properties (moisture, protein, fat content)
• PCA — exploratory analysis and outlier detection
• SIMCA — soft independent modeling of class analogy for classification
• LDA — linear discriminant analysis for authentication

Industry Applications

• Dairy: Rapid analysis of milk composition
• Grain & Flour: Protein and moisture content in real-time
• Meat: Fat content and freshness assessment
• Beverages: Sugar content and authentication of wines