Color approach to the analysis of white crystal cane sugar for the detection of solid impurities

Author(s)

Barros, Nathalia Zanetti ^[1] ; Speranca, Marco Aurelio ^[1] ; Verbi Pereira, Fabiola Manhas ^{[2, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Bioenergy Res Inst IPBEN, Inst Chem, Grp Alternat Analyt Approaches GAAA, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP - Brazil

^[2] Natl Inst Alternat Technol Detect Toxicol Assessm, Araraquara, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture; DEC 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

BACKGROUND Sugar is consumed worldwide and so the quality control of sugar cane is necessary. Solid impurities are an inherent part of industrial sugar processing. Dark particles and adulteration with sand must be controlled. Sixty-four samples of white crystal cane sugar analysis in the presence of both kinds of impurities (dark particles and sand) were assessed using an affordable digital image system and a multivariate calibration strategy. RESULTS The quality parameters for the multivariate calibration models obtained to estimate sugar content were remarkable. Color descriptors from digital images allowed identification of different levels of sugar content for the following three ranges: 0-49.99 wt%, 50.03-78.99 wt%, and 82.99-100 wt%. The multivariate model using red (R), green (G), Blue (B), and luminosity (L) color descriptors showed low standard errors of cross-validation (SECV) and validation (SEV) of 7.63 and 6.01 wt%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The method is affordable and reliable, and might aid quick screening in situations where access to a laboratory or instrumentation is restricted. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/50945-4 - INCT 2014: National Institute for Alternative Technologies of Detection, Toxicological Evaluation and Removal of Micropollutants and Radioactivies
• Grantee: Maria Valnice Boldrin
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 19/01102-8 - Multi-user equipament approved in grant 2018/18212-8: X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer
• Grantee: Fabiola Manhas Verbi Pereira
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• FAPESP's process: 18/18212-8 - Development of chemometric models for determination of solid impurities in raw sugarcane using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence
• Grantee: Fabiola Manhas Verbi Pereira
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants