Measurement of fat and sucrose in dry cake mixes by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy

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Abstract
Summary: A feasibility study was carried out to assess the potential of near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy for the measurement of fat and sucrose in dry cake mixes. The calibration of the NIR instrument was carried out in a research laboratory and then assessed under quality control conditions in the factory laboratory. It was possible to measure fat with an accuracy (±2σ) of ±3.4% for products with a fat content of 8–25% compared with +0.76% for the precision of the Soxhlet procedure. In the case of sucrose the accuracy was ±5.4% for products with a sucrose content of 10–40% compared with ±2.0% for a high pressure liquid chromatography (hplc) method. It must be concluded, therefore, that while NIR offers a quicker, simpler method of quality control, this is at the expense of accuracy.