Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is food analysis?
The development, application and study of analytical methods for characterizing foods and their constituents
Why is food analysis important?
Information about foods, produce foods that are safe and nutritious, allow the consumer to make informed decisions
Government regulations ensure quality of the foods, ensure food industry makes safe foods with high quality, there is fair competition between companies, eliminates economic fraud
Quality control ensure food composition doesn’t change, characterize raw materials
What are the six components to proximate analysis?
- Moisture
- Ether extract
- ASH
- Nitrogen
- Crude Fibre
- NSE
What is the formula for moisture?
%Moisture = [(wet weight - dry weight)/wet weight] x 100%
What is the formula for %Dry Matter?
%Dry Matter = 100% - %Moisture
Why is determining water content in feed important?
Water weight (price and shipping)
Moisture in storage
Too much - food spoils quickly
Too little - food is less palatable
Moisture dilutes energy and nutrients in food
Moisture is important for optimum intake/performance of animals
How is the first component (moisture) created?
Feed sample is air dried to separate the dry matter and moisture
What are the potential error/limitations of moisture?
Drying can remove other volatile compounds (SC FA, minerals) which can cause a slight under-estimation of dry weight
How is ether extract created?
Feed sample is air dried to create moisture and dry matter, an organic solvent (ether) is incorporated into the dry matter and separates it into two precipitates and the one on top is used to extract the fat
What is the formula for ether extract/crude fat %?
%Crude fat = [(weight of their extract)/wet weight of sample] x 100%
What are the potential sources of error in the ether extract/crude fat component?
- other things are soluble in organic solvents such as chlorophyll, resins, waxes, plants which could over-estimate crude fat determination
- newer and more sensitive methods now exist
How is ASH extracted?
From the precipitates created from the organic ether solvent, the bottom precipitate is ignited (to get rid of anything w carbon = organic)
Why is it important to measure ASH content?
Nutritional labelling
Quality/taste of food
Microbiological stability
Nutritional requirements
Manufacturer processing
What is the formula for ASH (mineral content)
%ASH = [(weight of ASH)/wet weight of sample] x 100%
What are the potential sources of error/limitations for ASH (mineral content)?
- volatile minerals may be lost when burning the residue
- no information about the individual minerals
(It is now mandatory for food labels to indicate sodium content)