Monitoring of soybean germination process by near-infrared spectroscopy

Abstract Soybean seeds were germinated on an industrial scale after soaking for 0–56 h to produce a special additive for food industrial use. The germination process of three soybean varieties was monitored with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy based on changes in the amount, status, or character of the water. This paper evaluates the “waterless” NIR spectra of sound, germinated, and heat treated seeds to try to follow the fine details of the germination process. The germination process was analysed with the help of cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and polar qualification system (PQS) as statistical and chemometric methods. PCA proved to be the most sensitive spectrum evaluation method to follow the fine details of germination. The applied NIR method is suitable for non-destructively, real-time monitoring of the non-linear nature of germination

Capturing Desire: Rhetorical Strategies and the Affectivity of Discourse

In this article I argue that psychoanalytical theory can help us understand the emotional force of political rhetoric. I undertake a theoretical enquiry into the method of interpreting political speeches as strategies of affective persuasion. Both rhetorical and psychoanalytical studies converge in their concern with the production of ‘plausible stories’ that aim to fold psychic investments into political judgements. To capture desire, I claim, political rhetoric must articulate ‘symptomatic beliefs’ in relation to wider situational exigencies. I sketch three distinct psychoanalytical approaches, each of which emphasises a different scenario of unconscious organisation where rhetorical strategies are pertinent: namely Freudian, Kleinian, and Lacanian approaches. These are then applied to the example of a controversial rhetorical intervention – Enoch Powell’s infamous Birmingham speech of 1968 – to demonstrate the various potential focii when undertaking analysis

Effects of microwave heating on native and resistant starches

Resistant starches (RSs) are broadly investigated as appropriate additives in starch-based products due to their well-known and proved health benefits. However, it was shown in previous studies that these starches are sensitive of the different heat treatments used in the food processing, which can cause changes, especially in the resistance. There is an increasing trend to use microwave (MW) energy in food processing; therefore, our aim was to investigate the changes of RSs compared to native starches caused by MW heating. Maize, wheat, RS2 and RS4 starches were MW-treated according to a 2×2 experimental design (300 and 600 W of power, 30 and 150 s of time). The changes of in vitro digestibility, rheological properties (rapid visco analyser, RVA) and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic characteristic were studied. Two spectrophotometers were applied (dispersive and Fourier-transform (FT)) to compare their sensitivity in the analysis of the MW-treated starches.Results showed that the digestibility of starches did not show any tendencies when increasing the microwave energy of treatments, the characteristics of the kinetic curves remained unchanged. The RVA analysis showed that the RSs did not gelatinize after the heat-treatments. The MW heating weakened the rheological properties of all starches. The NIR analysis was the most sensitive device for the detection of the effects of MW treatments. The analysis of the most characteristic carbohydrate regions (2080–2130 and 2270–2290 nm) highlighted structural alterations of the starches; moreover, the dispersive spectrophotometer was found to be more sensitive in the analysis of starches than the FT-one

Developing new types of wheat with enhanced health benefits

The consumption of wholegrain wheat is associated with a number of health benefits which may relate to the presence of a range of dietary fibre, phytochemical, vitamin and mineral components. Analysis of 150 bread wheat lines within the HEALTHGRAIN programme showed wide variation in content and composition of bioactive components within 150 bread wheat lines. Furthermore, in some cases (notably arabinoxylan in flour and tocols, sterols and alkylresorcinols in wholemeal) this variation was highly heritable and hence accessible to plant breeders. A number of tools are therefore being developed to facilitate the selection of these components in plant breeding programmes including molecular markers, biochemical kits and NIR calibrations