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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #417262
Research Project: Development of Innovative Technologies and Strategies to Mitigate Biological, Chemical, Physical, and Environmental Threats to Food Safety

Location: Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens

Title: Food contamination test using combined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and Raman spectroscopy

Author
item SHIN, SUNGHO - Purdue University
item DOH, IYLL-JOON - Purdue University
item RAJWA, BARTEK - Purdue University
item BAE, EUIWON - Purdue University
item ROBINSON, J. PAUL - Purdue University

Submitted to: Proceedings of SPIE
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2023
Publication Date: 6/13/2023
Citation: Shin, S., Doh, I., Rajwa, B., Bae, E., Robinson, J. 2023. Food contamination test using combined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and Raman spectroscopy. Proceedings of SPIE. 12545. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2665238.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2665238

Interpretive Summary: In today's complicated food production and delivery system, making sure our food is both authentic and safe to eat is very important. As food moves from the farm to our plates, it can be contaminated, faked, or mislabeled in many different ways. To keep our nation’s food supply safe, we need to continuously develop new technologies, or find creative ways of employing existing technologies to find these dangers. Here we report the integration of two spectroscopic methods, (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy or Raman spectroscopy) to quickly check food for harmful contaminants, using orange peel and herbicide as a model system. We showed that the optical methods, if combined and used properly, can detect the presence of dangerous levels of chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides in food. This novel method of food analysis has broad applications in both food safety and food authentication.

Technical Abstract: Due to the increasing complexity of the food supply chain, the likelihood of food adulteration or contamination is a significant problem for food safety. Agricultural products may be chemically, physically, or biologically manipulated at numerous points along the supply chain. To address this issue and improve food safety, it is necessary to implement innovative measurement technologies for biohazard detection. Currently, accessible food analysis techniques include vibrational spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. However, optical techniques such as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and Raman systems are gaining popularity due to their real-time analysis capabilities and minimal requirements for sample preparation. In this study, we combined LIBS and Raman detection to analyze the elemental and molecular composition of various food matrices for the purpose of detecting food contamination in real time. We examined typical generic herbicides containing glyphosate, such as Roundup. The samples were spiked by spraying the chemical compound on the surface of fruits. The results revealed that it is possible to assess complex food matrices polluted with widespread organic contaminants by combining optical spectroscopies very rapidly.