ARS | Publication request: INVISIBLE COATINGS FOR WHEAT KERNELS

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 1, 2002
Publication Date: June 1, 2002
Citation: RAM, M.S., DOWELL, F.E., SEITZ, L.M. INVISIBLE COATINGS FOR WHEAT KERNELS. CEREAL CHEMISTRY. 2002. 80(2):188-192.

Interpretive Summary: It is occasionally necessary or beneficial to tag wheat kernels without altering their appearance. Procedures have been developed to safely coat wheat kernels with invisible ultraviolet (UV)-fluorescent, near-infrared (NIR) absorbing dyes. Wheat coated with UV-fluorescent compounds can be identified under blacklight and NIR-coated wheat can be identified from its NIR spectrum. NIR coatings require the lowest concentration of dyes. Coatings have potential applications to tag wheat of a particular color or protein class, diseased wheat such as karnal bunt, or genetically modified wheat. Coated wheat cannot be used for food, but may be used as seeds. This methodology will aid in development of calibration for sorting instruments.

Technical Abstract: It is occasionally necessary to tag wheat kernels without altering their appearance. Coatings have potential applications to tag wheat of a particular color or protein class, diseased wheat such as karnal bunt or genetically modified wheat. This methodology will aid in the development of calibrations for sorting instruments. Procedures were developed to coat wheat kernels with invisible ultraviolet (UV)-fluorescent, and near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing non-carcinogenic dyes. Wheat coated with UV-fluorescent compounds were identified under blacklight. The NIR-absorbing coating required lower concentrations of dye than the UV dyes, and wheat coated with NIR-absorbing dye were identified from their NIR spectrum.