Non-targeted NIR spectroscopy and SIMCA classification for commercial milk powder authentication: A study using eleven potential adulterants

Sanjeewa R Karunathilaka; Betsy Jean Yakes; Keqin He; Jin Kyu Chung; Magdi Mossoba

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00806

Non-targeted NIR spectroscopy and SIMCA classification for commercial milk powder authentication: A study using eleven potential adulterants

Heliyon. 2018 Sep 21;4(9):e00806. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00806. eCollection 2018 Sep.

Authors

Sanjeewa R Karunathilaka¹, Betsy Jean Yakes¹, Keqin He², Jin Kyu Chung¹, Magdi Mossoba¹

Affiliations

¹ U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of Regulatory Science, 5001 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20740, USA.
² University of Maryland, Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 2134 Patapsco Building, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Abstract

A non-targeted detection method using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric modeling was developed for the rapid screening of commercial milk powder (MP) products as authentic or potentially mixed with known and unknown adulterants. Two benchtop FT-NIR spectrometers and a handheld NIR device were evaluated for model development. The performance of SIMCA classification models was then validated using an independent test set of genuine MP samples and a set of gravimetrically prepared mixtures consisting of MPs spiked with each of eleven potential adulterants. Classification models yielded 100% sensitivities for the benchtop spectrometers. Better specificity, which was influenced by the nature of the adulterant, was obtained for the benchtop FT-NIR instruments than for the handheld NIR device, which suffered from lower spectral resolution and a narrower spectral range. FT-NIR spectroscopy and SIMCA classification models show promise for the rapid screening of commercial MPs for the detection of potential adulteration.

Keywords: Analytical chemistry; Food analysis; Food safety.