A modified mid-level data fusion approach on electronic nose and FT-NIR data for evaluating the effect of different storage conditions on rice germ shelf life

• Published in: Talanta (Oxford) 2020-01, Vol.206, p.120208-120208, Article 120208
• Main Authors: Malegori, Cristina, Buratti, Susanna, Benedetti, Simona, Oliveri, Paolo, Ratti, Simona, Cappa, Carola, Lucisano, Mara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Correlation map; Data fusion; E-nose; Edible Grain - chemistry; Electronic Nose - statistics & numerical data; Food Storage; FT-NIR; MOS sensor; Oryza - chemistry; Principal Component Analysis; Rice germ; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared - methods; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared - statistics & numerical data; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared - methods; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0039-9140; 1873-3573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120208

Evaluating the possibility of extending shelf life of rice germ (a by-product of rice milling process) by reducing water activity in combination with storage atmosphere packaging, without any heat treatment, is the aim of the present study. Samples at different water activities (0.55, 0.45 and 0.36) were packed in air, argon or under vacuum, and stored at 27 °C for 150 days. To the aim, a non-targeted approach was applied by means of an FT-NIR spectrometer in reflectance with a rotating sample holder and a portable electronic nose, equipped with 10 non-specific sensors. For understanding the impact of the factors under study on the rice germ shelf life, a modified mid-level data fusion approach was applied to enhance the information most correlated with time. Moreover, Principal Component Analysis was applied on fused data to follow samples evolution during storage and identify different clusters according to the storage conditions. The rice germ case study allowed to better understand the information captured by the non-specific sensors: a 2D correlation map was developed combining the e-nose data with the NIR spectral information, highlighting relationships among NIR absorption bands and classes of chemical compounds inducing e-nose responses. A data fusion approach highlighted the importance of water activity on rice germ storage, while no interesting differences were ascribable to storage atmosphere packaging systems. In terms of correlation, the sensors could be divided in two groups, negatively inter-correlated: sensors ascribable to aromatic compounds (WC) and correlated with the NIR band around 4800–4900 cm−1 (N–H bending of primary amides, typical for peptides coming from protein hydrolysis); broad-range response sensors (WS), linked with the NIR band at 5128 cm−1 (second overtone of CO stretching of esters). [Display omitted] •Rice germ storage is studied by a combination of innovative non-targeted approaches.•A tailor-made data centering (t0 centering) is proposed to enhance time trend.•A novel data fusion strategy merges and correlates MOS-sensors and FT-NIR signals.•PCA on fused data highlights the importance of water activity in rice germ storage.•Correlation map with FT-NIR data ascribes chemical meaning to non-specific sensors.