Alternative Method to Characterize Corn Grain by Means of Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

Abstract

The application of photothermal (PT) techniques to obtain the optical and thermal properties of different materials has been widely reported in the literature. Among the PT techniques, photoacoustic spectroscopy stands out because this technique has been used to characterize different types of materials in solid, liquid, and gaseous phases, as well as homogeneous and inhomogeneous samples as biological materials which present great complexity in their structure. In particular, the seeds and corn kernels comprise different structural components such as endosperm, pericarp, embryo, and pedicel. The color attribute is very important in the grains because it gives information about the chemical composition and nutritional quality attributes which are important in consumer acceptance. In this investigation optical absorption spectra of corn grains were obtained by using photoacoustic spectroscopy in a wavelength range from 325 nm to 800 nm. Two varieties of corn grains were studied, establishing a complete block design at random for the measurements. From the obtained optical absorption spectra, the optical absorption coefficient ($\beta$) was calculated as a function of the wavelength for each sample. A complementary study of the percentage of reflectance for these samples was carried out by using ultraviolet/visible spectrometry with an integrating sphere. The data were subjected to an analysis of the variance using software of the statistical analysis system. The results revealed significant differences ($P\le 0.05$) between corn varieties in the range of 325 nm to 670 nm. The application of the photoacoustic spectroscopy technique as an alternative to conventional methods for the characterization of maize grain through an analysis of $\beta$ could be important for characterizing non-homogeneous materials like grains of corn, whose characterization is relevant in the food industry.