Food Industry
Nutriscan GI20 Glycemic Index Analyser
The in-vitro glycemic index and resistant starch predictors are new fully automated concept instruments capable of rapidly and reliably predicting the GI and RS content of foods.
The methodological basis of the instrumentation is a quantitative assay system that essentially simulates the digestion of food as occurs in the gastrointestinal tract of humans.
Foods in a form in which they are normally consumed are tested and minimal sample preparation is required. The reaction system involves a series of incubations, at physiological pH and temperature that essentially mimic the buccal, gastric and pancreatic phases of digestion.
Protein, fat and starch are sequentially digested using a cocktail of hydrolytic enzymes. Total glucose released at designated stages of the digestion process is quantified and the predicted GI and (or) RS calculated. The reaction cycles and digestion conditions are programmed in a PC and the entire operation of the instrument is fully computer controlled.
Predicted GI and RS values generated with the prototype instrumentation are comparable to those produced by standardised GI testing methodology and the gold standard human ileostomy model, respectively. Statistical analyses of the data derived using the prototype instruments demonstrates close agreement with the corresponding results obtained using the very best testing methods in humans.
The NutriScan GI20 is an automated, 20 sample capacity, analyser that simulates the digestion of a small quantity of food as it passes through the human gut. The food samples are weighed, mascerated using a kitchen chopping device and placed into sample cups that contain a stirrer bar and are placed in a heating block to maintain the temperature at 37C.
Three enzyme mixtures are added to each sample cup in a specific sequence along with buffers. As the samples are digested, the GI20 measures the amount of glucose released from the food samples at 15, 30, 60, 120, 240 and 300 minutes during the digestion process.
The glucose is measured using a Glucose Analyser based on the following reaction:
β−D-glucose + O2 + H2O >>>GOD >>>> D-glucono-1,5-lactone + H2O2 where GOD = Glucose Oxidase
An oxygen electrode placed in the reaction cell measures the consumption of O2 which is proportional to the amount of glucose that is oxidised by the glucose oxidase reagent.
The glucose concentration of the digests are plotted over the 5 hours. The total amount of glucose released is then used to calculate the GI of the original sample.
Applications
The first application that is available is the Glycemic Index(GI) prediction of foods. The second application will be the Resistant Starch(RS) prediction of foods. There has already been enquiries by potential customers for other applications such as lipid profiles, protein profiles and beta-glucan digestion.
The system could be used with a HPLC system, a UV Visible spectrophotometer or a Mass Spectrometer and a different enzyme cocktail and program to simulate other digestion based applications.
The following are potential applications:
1) Food Companies: The GI20 is specifically designed to provide food manufacturers with a rapid means of testing foods for Glycemic Index. Their use of such an instrument will be mainly in the product development cycle.
2) Human Nutrition Research: Private and public institutions that are involved in human nutrition.
Screening large numbers of samples for low GI and RS traits is an excellent application for the NutriScan system because it can process up to 20 samples simultaneously and at a relatively low cost per test.
3) Animal Nutrition Research: Research institutions that are involved in the studies of animal nutrition. In this case, the potential is for the base NutriScan system but supplied with other enzyme protocols and possibly a different detection systems.
4) Food Testing Laboratories: Consulting laboratories that offer routine testing for food manufacturers are a potential customer.
In the same way these laboratories analyse customers samples for protein, fat and moisture, the NutriScan analyser would provide them with a means of measuring GI and RS for customers.
5) Pharmaceutical Manufacturers: Pharmaceutical companies could use the NutriScan Artificial Gut as a very useful tool to study the progressive breakdown of drugs as they pass through the digestion system.
 Nutriscan GI20 Glycemic Index Analyser (4.8 MB)
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OdourScan Model 1000 Electronic Nose
OdourScan Model 1000 is an electronic nose device that can be used to monitor odours and smells in a production or external
environment.
OdourScan uses a set of 6 electro chemical sensors that respond to different sources of odour, e.g., aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, amines,
sulphides and others. The OdourScan Model 1000 provides a continuous output for each
sensor that can be used to initiate an alarm or at least to have a record of the odours in the
environment.
OdourScan has been developed for monitoring solvents in a production environment, odours arising out of waste deposits or sewerage works, or just monitoring a process stream such as an oven to detect burnt products.
Operation
OdourScan draws air off a process line or from the environment and passes the air onto the
sensory panel where the components in the odour react with the sensors. Each sensor has a unique response to each component.
OdourScan’s software plots the response from each detector. A six dimensional modelling of the detectors can be used to qualify the odour. If the odour exceeds the limits set in the software, a blue tooth communications link can be used to notify someone of the problem.
Alternatively a single detector can be used to set the alarm. OdourScan stores the detector plots for later
retrieval and analysis.
Sensors A selection of sensors is available to optimise Odours can to a specific odour or a selection of products.
A unique feature of the sensors is that they are self cleaning.
The 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.
OdourScan’s sensors are rugged and have an extremely long life time as compared with many other odour sensors.
Brochure OdourScan 1000 (1 MB)
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.
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.
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