Agricultural Industry
Real-time information on Agriculture Products
Monitor your sample streams with online FT-NIR spectroscopy to obtain the best value from your raw materials.
A major challenge of the 21st century and its growing population is to optimize the agriculture industry in terms of production without compromising on food safety and quality.
FT-NIR spectrometers are able to provide information about the quantitative chemical composition of the material at the various production stages. Especially the main constituents of interest, such as fat, protein and moisture, fiber or ash can be analyzed simultaneously, a huge cost benefit compared to conventional analyses.
Replacing the traditional wet chemical or chromatographic methods by FT-NIR spectroscopy has several advantages:
- Fast and easy to use by the operators
- Non-destructive
- Multiple components per analysis
- Environmentally friendly, no hazardous substances used
- Online measurements for continuous real-time control
Depending on the oil type, the seeds/fruits are either cold-pressed or heat-treated before applying mechanical or solvent extraction. Monitoring moisture and oil levels of the material going into extraction as well as of the expeller cakes after pressing by online FT-NIR enables a quick and reliable indication of the efficiency of the process.
The video shows an installation of the Bruker sensor head Q412/A over a conveyor belt to measure the sample in diffuse reflectance. In order to react to the fluctuating quality of the raw materials, products and to adapt to the extraction process, moisture, protein and fat content are measured in real-time.
Learn more by downloading our Application Note:
Sugar cane analysis for quality and payment purposes can be performed directly in the truck unloading area. The samples of incoming cane taken by a core sampler from the truck are shredded for analysis.
Moreover, the control of the various steps in the milling process is vital to optimize yield and extracting efficiency. Like in the reception area, the shredded sugar cane can be analyzed directly with on-line FT-NIR for tracking consignments on variations in recoverable sugar content. Moreover all relevant juice streams can be analyzed to check and optimize the extraction performance.
Dairy and meat farmers need to rely on the exact nutrient values of the feed to be able to predict animal performance from the formulated rations.
Therefore, feed producers have to ensure high-quality feed products that meet the demands. With FT-NIR spectroscopy, parameters like moisture, oil, protein, fiber and ash as well as more specialized parameters e.g. ADF, NDF and amino acids can be determined during the production of animal feed, giving peace of mind to producers and farmers alike.
