Making the analysis of oilseeds and edible oils faster and more accurate - Magnetic Resonance

Making the analysis of oilseeds and edible oils faster and more accurate

The breeding, cultivation, and processing of seeds to create edible oils is a major global industry worth billions of dollars. However, to ensure the highest yield, the amount of oil and water in seeds must be accurately measured at all stages of the production cycle, from plant breeding through commercial agriculture to milling and processing. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) provides a reliable, precise and affordable platform for such measurements.

Time Domain NMR – now the fastest and simplest solution

Time Domain NMR (TD-NMR) is extremely fast and requires minimal human intervention whether measuring manually or using automation for ultimate seed throughput. It can also be quickly calibrated with just two or three samples. In contrast, Near-Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS) is slow for measuring oil content in seeds and requires hundreds of samples with continuous recalibration needed to measure the emerging genotypes. Using TD-NMR makes the whole process more efficient across the entire cycle, delivering optimal throughput in the lab. Let us look at that cycle in a little more detail.

Breeding: TD-NMR ensures the accurate measurement of oil content in oilseeds and other oil sources, such as palm fruit, so you can select high oil content specimens for propagation.

Crushing/extraction: Using TD-NMR to assess the content of oil and water in oilseed residues after crushing helps ensure maximum process efficiency.

Processing: TD-NMR can be used to give important structural and constituent information of edible oils, such as the level of solid fat content required for its end use application whether it be for margarine/spreads, confectionary or baking. The X-Pulse benchtop NMR spectrometer can be used as a screening tool to classify edible oils and to determine the presence of adulterants.

Crop value: Determining the value of any given crop is critical. The MQC+ benchtop NMR analyser provides an extremely fast, reliable, and simple-to-operate answer to the question “how much oil and water is present in my seeds?". It also complies with ISO-10565 for oil in seeds and water in seeds, ISO-10632 for oil in seed residue and water in seed residue and is USDA-GIPSA approved for the measurement of sunflower seeds.

NMR is the only method that can quickly and accurately cover each vital stage of the process. Our MQC+ benchtop analyser is the ideal tool and there are in fact two versions of the MQC+ available for seeds analysis applications:

MQC+5 is for large volumes of seed (40 and 80ml), typically used for determining the value of agricultural produce
MQC+23 is for single seeds and small seed volumes (up to 14ml), typically used for breeding and research; it is also be used for the measurement of Solid Fat Content.

Why Oxford Instruments?

Benchtop NMR is a clean, fast, and reliable method for the analysis of seed oil across the entire production cycle. We have over three decades of experience in building NMR instruments. If you rely on the accurate, swift, and affordable analysis of oils, our range of systems will meet your needs.

To arrange a demo of the MQC+ or X-Pulse and see for yourself the benefits benchtop NMR can bring, contact us today.

了解更多