
Complete Proximate Analysis for Food Manufacturers
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Abstract
Food manufacturing is an increasingly high-tech industry,
with an ultimate focus on efficiency, throughput, scale, and
automation. Food testing methods have lagged behind other
technological improvements and, as a result, have become the
bottleneck in the manufacturing process. This application note
provides a background on historical test methods, and their
modern alternatives which, in most cases, are not only faster
and less labor intensive, but also provide more reliable results.
Introduction
There are many ways to measure components such as protein,
moisture, fat, and ash in food samples. Traditionally, each
component has been measured by a reference method that
requires hours to perform. In recent decades, rapid alternatives
such as near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), bench top, timedomain
nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR), and even
x-ray spectroscopy have gained widespread acceptance. This
application note discusses the proximate analysis techniques
that have traditionally been used, plus their rapid alternatives,
with focus on special considerations for food manufacturers.