Food Industry
Nutriscan Glycaemic Index and Resistant Starch Analyser
NutriScan, developed by the Division of Human Nutrition
of CSIRO in Australia, is an automated in vitro digestion
system designed to measure the amount of glucose that
is released during the enzymatic breakdown of foods.
It emulates the the human gut and provides a measurement
that correlates strongly with in vivo methodology.
The benefits of NutriScan GI Analyser over the in vivo
methodology is in the reproducibility of the in vitro
analyser. NutriScan does not require the collection
of blood samples from human subjects as does the in
vivo methodology and it has significant social and cost
benefits. Using the NutriScan for resistant starch analysies
is completely non invasive, it does not have to be measured
by operating on a subject and removing the contents
of the colon.
The instrument has been used to test a broad range
of foods and to validate the strong correlation between
these prototypes and the in vivo methodologies.
NutriScan is a purpose built instrument with a 20 vessel
heating block with built in magnetic stirrers. An XY
autosampler is used to load the necessary reagents into
each vessel in the appropriate time sequence. As the
food is digested, the glucose released is measured by
extracting a small volume of the sample mixture and
analysing it in an unique in line glucose analyser,
based on a membrane immobilised Horse Radish Peroxidase
reaction.
NutriScan GI Analyser takes approximately 5 hours for
analysis. NutriScan RS Analyser takes approximately
16 hours to complete the digestion and analysis. The
RS Analyser measures
Glycaemic Index and the amount Soluble Starch and Resistant
Starch.
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OdourScan Model 2000 Electronic Nose
OdourScan is an electronic nose device that can be
used to consistently measure the smell or aroma of materials
such as food, grains, beverages, etc. The instrument
uses a set of 6 electrochemical sensors that respond
to different sources of odour, e.g., aromatic hydrocarbons,
aliphatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, amines, sulphides
and others.
By sampling the head-space above a sample of food or
other material, OdourScan can be used to determine if
the odour is consistent from batch to batch or if the
odour is changing over time.
It has been developed as a tool for food and beverage
manufacturers, grains and fruit producers, and any other
processor of agricultural products.
A fixed mass of a sample is placed into a petri dish
which is then loaded into the sample drawer. The OdourScan
takes a background reading and then the drawer is closed.
OdourScan then sucks
purified air over the sample and passes the air onto
the sensory panel where the components in the odour
react with the sensors.
Software compares the response of each sensor to a
stored file for that material. The pattern and the intensity
of these sensor responses is used to determine whether
the odour is the same as the library file and provides
a semi quantitative assessment as to how close a fit
the odour is to the library file
.
A selection of self cleaning sensors is available to
optimise OdourScan to a specific odour or a selection
of products. Electronics cycles the voltage across the
sensor so that once the
electrochemical reaction has take place and the signal
recorded, the odour components are
literally burnt off the surface and carried away with
the air stream. This leaves the sensor clean to collect
the next reading. The sensors are rugged and have an
extremely long life time as compared with many other
odour sensors. |
