Rapid and nondestructive discrimination of Fusarium asiaticum and Fusarium graminearum in hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using near-infrared spectroscopy

Authors: LIM, JONGKUK - Rural Development Administration - Korea; MO, CHANGYEUN - Rural Development Administration - Korea; OH, KYUNG-MIN - Rural Development Administration - Korea; KIM, GEON-SUB - Rural Development Administration - Korea; YOO, HYEON-CHAE - Rural Development Administration - Korea; HAM, HYEON-HEUI - Rural Development Administration - Korea; KIM, YOUNG-TAE - Chonbuk National University; KIM, SEONG-MIN - Chonbuk National University; Kim, Moon

Submitted to: Journal of Biosystems Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2017
Publication Date: 12/15/2017
Citation: Lim, J., Mo, C., Oh, K., Kim, G., Yoo, H., Ham, H., Kim, Y., Kim, S., Kim, M.S. 2017. Rapid and nondestructive discrimination of Fusarium asiaticum and Fusarium graminearum in hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using near-infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Biosystems Engineering. https://doi.org/10.5307/JBE.2017.42.4.301.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5307/JBE.2017.42.4.301

Interpretive Summary: The infection of grains such as barley with fungal disease known as Fusarium can result in food safety problems for humans and livestock and quality problems that are of significant economic impact for grain producers and processors. Conventional inspection via culturing to identify fusarium-infected grains requires several days, and quantitative laboratory analysis requires several hours that include nontrivial sample preparation. This study investigated the use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for rapid and nondestructive inspection of hulled barley grains to discriminate between normal samples and samples that had been deliberately infected with Fusarium during growth. NIRS reflectance measurements were acquired for individual grains and the spectra were used to develop a model to discriminate between normal and infected grains. The results showed over 99% and 100% correct identification of normal and infected hulled barley grains, respectively, demonstrating that NIRS can be effective as a rapid and nondestructive method for detecting Fusarium in barley and may also be useful for other grains. This research benefits grain producers and processors seeking to produce barley safe for human and animal consumption and for whom a rapid detection method for Fusarium can help improve barley production and processing operations.

Technical Abstract: Purpose: This study was conducted to discriminate between normal hulled barley and Fusarium (Fusarium asiaticum and Fusarium graminearum) infected hulled barley by using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique. Methods: Fusarium asiaticum and Fusarium graminearum were artificially inoculated in hulled barley and the reflectance spectrum of the barley spike was obtained by using a near-infrared spectral sensor with wavelength band in the range 1,175-2,170 nm. After obtaining the spectrum of the specimen, the hulled barley was cultivated in a greenhouse and visually inspected for infections. Results: From a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) prediction model developed from the raw spectrum data of the hulled barley, the discrimination accuracy for the normal and infected hulled barley was 99.82% (563/564) and 100% (672/672), respectively. Conclusions: NIRS is effective as a quick and nondestructive method to detect whether hulled barley has been infected with Fusarium. Further, it expected that NIRS will be able to detect Fusarium infections in other grains as well.