chemical and nutritional analysis Flashcards
Diet related health disorders
cardiovascular diseases (conory heart disease, increased risk of heart attack)
osteoarthritis
malnutrition
Why is nutrition labelling necessary?
- Law
- Informs consumer
- Uniform info
- Help to lower obesity
Understanding total carbohydrates of which sugars
- Either mono or disaccharides
- Mono – glucose, fructose and galactose
- Di – sucrose, lactose and maltose
Nutrition label polyols
- Alcohols containing more than 1 hydroxyl group
- Xylitol, maltitol, sorbitol, isomalt, glycerol
- Degree of sweetness comparable or lower than sucrose
- Lower calories/glycaemic index than sugar
Fibre
- Soluble fibre – pectin, gums, seaweed polysaccharides
* Insoluble – Cellulose, Hemicelluloses, resistant starch
Reference intake
An estimate of energy or nutrient required for an average sized woman
High content labelling
> 25 of RI per 100g of the product
Low content labelling
4-8% of RI per 100g
Importance of food analysis
- Part of quality management – through development, product and in market
- Chemical and physical properties allow nutritive value, functional characteristics and acceptability
Methods for determining nutrition
- Use of software – based upon each ingredient in the recipe. Info on the allergens, RI and labelling colours
- Online nutritional analysis
- Turn-key services
- Chemical analysis ¬ - accurate determination as food can loose nutrients during processing
Atomic absorption spectroscopy
atoms of different elements absorb light of specific wavelength, amount absorbed depends on the concentration of the element.
Inductively coupled plasma
high amount of energy supplied to the gas
ICP optical emission detector
atoms of different elements upon excitement with high energy emit characteristic radiation spectra. Amount emitted depends on the concentration of the element.
ICP mass spectrometry detector
mass to change ratio of detected ions is proportionate to the concentration of the element in sample.
