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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310219
Title: Short wave infrared (SW-IR) hyperspectral imaging technique for examination of aflatoxin B_1 on corn kernels

Author
item KANDPAL, LALIT - Chungnam National University
item LEE, SANGDAE - Chungnam National University
item Kim, Moon
item BAE, H - Chungnam National University
item CHO, BYOUNG-KWAN - Chungnam National University

Submitted to: Food Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2015
Publication Date: 5/1/2015
Citation: Kandpal, L.M., Lee, S., Kim, M.S., Bae, H., Cho, B. 2015. Short wave infrared (SW-IR) hyperspectral imaging technique for examination of aflatoxin B_1 on corn kernels. Food Control. 51:171-176.

Interpretive Summary: Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. They can contaminate a wide range of crops before harvest and during storage. Contaminated grains are associated with economic losses for cultivators as well as potential health hazards to both humans and animals. In this study, a short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging technique was utilized to detect aflatoxin contamination on corn kernels. Corn samples were inoculated with four different aflatoxin concentrations (10, 100, 500 and 1000 ppb). Both infected and control samples were scanned with the hyperspectral imaging system over the spectral range of 1100 – 1700 nm. A model was developed to categorize control and infected kernels; the highest overall classification accuracy yielded from the developed model was 96.9%. The results demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging can be a rapid, accurate, and non-destructive technique for the detection of toxic metabolites in grains. This research is beneficial to grain production and processing industries and provides an alternative to manual grain inspection techniques.

Technical Abstract: Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. They can contaminate a wide range of crops before harvest and during storage. Contaminated grains are associated with economic losses for cultivators as well as potential health hazards to both humans and animals. In this study, a short-wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging technique was utilized to detect aflatoxin contamination on corn kernels. Corn samples were inoculated with four different aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) concentrations (10, 100, 500 and 1000 ppb) while control samples were surface-disinfected with a PBS solution. Both infected and control samples were scanned with an SWIR hyperspectral system over the spectral range of 1100–1700 nm. A partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model was developed to categorize control and infected kernels; the highest overall classification accuracy yielded from the developed model was 96.9%. Spectral deviation was observed between the control and inoculated samples as the AFB1 concentrations increased. In addition, the contamination map generated with the PLS-DA model provided the visual appearance of infected samples. Our results suggest that SWIR hyperspectral imaging is a rapid, accurate, and non-destructive technique for the detection of toxic metabolites in grains and could be an alternative to manual techniques. This information will be useful to other scientists and to regulatory agencies.