APPLICATIONS OF FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED MICROSPECTROSCOPY IN CEREALS

摘要

Cereal grains and products derived from them are inherently heterogeneous at a range of length scales. At a macroscopic level this is recognised as inhomogeneity of visible structures such as in wholegrain breads. At a single grain level, there is a range of plant cellular structures with variation in both composition and ultrastructure across the grain. At a cereal component level (e,g, starch granules, aleurone cells etc) there is a less obvious heterogeneity, but the natural origin of these structures ensures that each is unique. At the molecular scale, there is heterogeneity in terms of e.g. protein / lipid type and conformation. All of these features can play a role in determining the biological and technological roles of cereals, so techniquesfor assessing the location of specific chemical and conformational features are of interest to complement data from bulk sampling methods which provide an averaged characterisation of the system.