Frequently asked questions
High quality testing for Sugar analyses
1. Which tests are available?
Reducing sugar analyses, precursors for acrylamide formation include fructose, glucose, sucrose and maltose.
2. How are samples prepared?
Long square potato chips are freeze-dried for five days. Freeze-dried samples are milled to a fine powder with a food processing blender for 30 seconds. For each analysis, 0.1000 gr (±0.0005) of fine flour is weighed. The samples are extracted in 10 ml of 1:1 water: methanol containing 100mg/L trehalose (as an internal standard). The samples are mixed for 15 minutes, rested for 15 min and centrifuged for 15 min. Samples are diluted 1:10 and passed through a 0.2 mm filter. A 1.5ml sample is removed and stored at -20°C. Samples are either directly analysed by IC or further diluted 1:10 in acetonitrile and analysed by LC-MS.
3. Can you analyse the structure of arabinoxylan and mixed-linkage glucan in cereal flour?
Yes:
Sample preparation: Cereal grains are milled into flour. Endogenous hydrolytic enzymes were inactivated by boiling the flour in ethanol. Simple sugars are removed by further ethanol washes. Mixture of recombinant hydrolytic enzymes (xylanase and lichenase) are used to hydrolyse arabinoxylan and mixed-linkage glucan into corresponding oligosaccharides and these are then analysed by HPAEC.
4. Can you quantify water extractable and non-water extractable hemicelluloses in plant matrices (monosaccharide analysis)?
Yes:
Sample preparation: Water extractable and water un-extractable fractions are prepared from cereal flour. Alternatively, alcohol insoluble residue (AIR) was prepared from other plant matrices. If necessary, fractions are destarched using starch degrading enzymes. Extracts are hydrolysed with trifluoracetic acid (TFA) and analysed by HPAEC for neutral (fucose, rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, xylose, mannose) and acidic (galacturonic and glucuronic acids) sugars.
How are amino acid analyses performed?
Amino acid analyses are performed using a standard protocol from Curtis et. al., 2016.
Sample preparation: Amino acid analyses for potatoes: Long square potato chips are freeze-dried for five days. The freeze-dried samples are milled to a fine powder with a food processing blender for 30 seconds. For each analysis, 0.1000 gr (±0.0005) of fine flour is weighed. The samples are extracted in 10 ml of 0.01 N HCl acid, mixed for 15 minutes, rested for 15 min and centrifuged for 15 min. A 1.5ml sample is removed and stored at -20 °C prior to derivatisation using a Phenomenex ® Amino acid Kit.
Wheat, Rye and oat grain analyses: Samples are milled to a fine powder with a food processing blender for 30 seconds. For each analysis, 0.5000 gr (±0005) of fine flour is weighed. The samples are extracted in 10 ml of 0.01 N HCl acid, mixed for 15 minutes, rested for 15 min and centrifuged for 15 min. A 1.5ml sample is removed and stored at -20 °C prior to derivatisation using a Phenomenex ® Amino acid Kit. Samples are analysed by GC-MS.
Amino acid analyses are also performed using an in-house method developed for HPLC.
Amino acid analyses
Amino acid analyses are performed using a standard protocol from Curtis et. al., 2016.
- Amino acid analyses for potatoes: Long square potato chips are freeze-dried for five days. The freeze-dried samples are milled to a fine powder with a food processing blender for 30 seconds. For each analysis, 0.1000 gr (±0.0005) of fine flour is weighed. The samples are extracted in 10 ml of 0.01 N HCl acid, mixed for 15 minutes, rested for 15 min and centrifuged for 15 min. A 1.5ml sample is removed and stored at -20 °C prior to derivatisation using a Phenomenex ® Amino acid Kit.
Solutions for everyone
Acrylamide and precursors: Amino acid anlayses (asparagine analyses) and reducing sugars analyses
Solutions for Industry partneres
Curtis Analytics offers a large number of sample analyses for acrylamide, asparagine and sugar analyses.
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Fast, effective and affordable testing for acrylamide, amino acids and sugar analyses for more infromation please go to the link below.
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Articles
Food security: the challenge of increasing wheat yield and the importance of not compromising food safety. T Curtis, NG Halford (2014), Annals of applied biology: 164 (3), 354-372
Sugars in crop plants. NG Halford, TY Curtis, N Muttucumaru, J Postles, DS Mottram, (2011). Annals of Applied Biology: 158 (1), 1-25
The acrylamide problem: a plant and agronomic science issue NG Halford, TY Curtis, N Muttucumaru, J Postles, JS Elmore, DS Mottram, (2012), Journal of experimental botany:63 (8), 2841-2851
Effects of genotype and environment on free amino acid levels in wheat grain: implications for acrylamide formation during processing. TY Curtis, N Muttucumaru, PR Shewry, MAJ Parry, SJ Powers, JS Elmore, et., al. (2009), Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: 57 (3), 1013-1021
Free amino acids and sugars in rye grain: implications for acrylamide formation. TY Curtis, SJ Powers, D Balagiannis, JS Elmore, DS Mottram, MAJ Parry, et., al. (2010), Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: 58 (3), 1959-1969
Reducing acrylamide precursors in raw materials derived from wheat and potato. N Muttucumaru, JS Elmore, T Curtis, DS Mottram, MAJ Parry, NG Halford (2008). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: 56 (15), 6167-6172
Effects of abiotic stress and crop management on cereal grain composition: implications for food quality and safety. NG Halford, TY Curtis, Z Chen, J Huang (2015). Journal of Experimental Botany: 66 (5), 1145-1156
Genetic and agronomic approaches to decreasing acrylamide precursors in crop plants. NG Halford, N Muttucumaru, TY Curtis, MAJ Parry. Food additives and contaminants: 24 (sup1), 26-3
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