QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SUGARS DURING STARCH HYDROLYSIS BY FT-IR ATR SPECTROMETRY .2. INFLUENCE OF EXTERNAL FACTORS AND WAVELENGTH PARAMETERS/

Earlier experiments have confirmed the suitability of Fourier transfor m infrared attenuated total reflectance (FT-IR/ATR) spectroscopy for m onitoring sugar production from starch hydrolysis. However, in order t o confirm the suitability of this technique for an industrial use, the influence of external factors (proteins, salts, temperature) on the p rediction, as well as the influence of wavelength parameters, must be evaluated. This paper shows that proteins and salts, which occur in lo w concentrations in sugar solution,before purification, have virtually no influence on the detection of sugar. However, sample temperature, already a very important factor in the industrial hydrolysis of starch , does have an influence upon spectral measurements. This influence wo uld therefore affect the prediction ability of a model made at a singl e temperature. A proven solution to the influence of temperature is to establish a model which takes into account the range of temperatures that occur during the hydrolysis process. Variations in wavelength par ameters also have been shown to significantly affect prediction abilit y.