Detection of adulteration in Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter flour using EDXRF and ComDim-MLR data fusion

• Published in: Analytica chimica acta Vol. 1276; p. 341639
• Main Authors: Casarin, Patricia, Santos, Luana Dalagrana dos, Viell, Franciele Leila Giopato, Melquiades, Fábio Luiz, Bona, Evandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 02.10.2023
• Subjects: Food fraud; Gluten-free cereals; Mineral profile; Multiblock analysis; Multiple linear regression; Food fraud; Multiblock analysis; Mineral profile; Multiple linear regression; Gluten-free cereals
• ISSN: 0003-2670; 1873-4324; 1873-4324
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.341639

The teff cereal gained worldwide attention because it is gluten-free and rich in iron; thus, its flour is subject to fraud. This study evaluated the ability of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (EDXRF) to identify teff flours adulterated with rice, whole wheat, oat, and rye flours. The adulteration followed a {5,4} simplex-lattice design. After smoothing and pretreatments, 15 kV and 50 kV spectra were fused by Common Dimension Analysis (ComDim). Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models using EDXRF-ComDim scores and percentage of teff were adjusted. The best model presented four common dimensions (CD), r2prediction = 0.8534, low RMSEP (0.0564), and absence of overfitting. The obtained model was robust to quantify adulteration in teff flour even with the differences in the intensity of EDXRF spectra of different crops. Therefore, EDXRF, in tandem with ComDim data fusion, was an efficient tool for the adulteration control of teff flours. •Iron content distinguished teff from adulterants.•ComDim showed that different EDXRF conditions had complementary information.•ComDim-MLR models detect and quantify teff adulteration.•EDXRF is a fast and robust approach to quality control for industries.