First International Conference on MOLDAVIAN RISKS – FROM ...

<strong>First</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on MOLDAVIAN RISKS - FROM GLOBAL TO LOCAL SCALE
16-19 May 2012, Bacau, Romania
ANALYSIS OF ESSENTIAL MINERAL CONTENT IN
DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLOUR
Iuliana Lazar 1 , Iuliana Caraman 2 , Alina Moroi 1
1 ”Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau, Department of Chemical and Food Engineering
2 ”Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau, Department of Mechanical and Environmental
Engineering
Corresponding author: Iuliana Caraman, iuliana.caraman@ub.ro
Abstract: Wheat grains contain a significant amount of minerals unevenly distributed in
parts of the grain. Peripheral layers which usually are removed in the process of grinding
as brans are richer in mineral content. Magnesium Mg is one of the vital minerals in the
development of many metabolic functions, its deficiency accelerating the aging process.
Calcium also plays an important role in intracellular and extracellular metabolism that
controls processes such as nerve conduction, muscle contraction, coagulation, regulation of
electrolytes and enzymes and hormone release. Another inorganic element that is found in
flour is phosphorus, which occurs in metabolism. The value of the content in the ash, both
in wheat but especially in flour is a basic quality index which varies depending on the flour
extraction. However, there are few studies that report data about the type and quantities of
inorganic substances contained in flour ash. In this study we propose to detail some of the
existing minerals in the ash by methods of emission and infrared spectroscopy, and
multivariate analysis. The differentiation of the PO4 groups’ content was emphasized in
chemometric analysis of infrared spectra. There were analyzed three sets of samples: group
1 provided by Agricultural Research Center Secuieni, Neamţ (Romania): Crina, Dropia,
Flamura, Gruia, Haiduc, and group 2 provided by local market (FAB Baneasa white flour,
dark flour Careffour FNC and dark flour Baneasa FNB) and group 3 provided by wheat
from Vaslui area. The flour samples assigned to group 1 and group 3 were obtained by
milling the wheat at the ZM 200 RETSCH ultracentrifuge mill. Hierarchical cluster
analysis procedure identifies relatively homogeneous groups of cases after certain features
are selected, using an algorithm that starts with each case in a separate group, combining
groups until only one remains. Distance or similar measures are generated by the
Proximities procedure. Between group linkage cluster method and Euclidean distance
interval were used. Chemometric analysis emphasizes that the evidence FAB, FNC and
FNB are associated through the Mg content. In Ca case, for samples from group 2 only
FNC and FNB show common characteristics. Chemometric analysis results indicate that
the FNC sample has high phosphorus content. Two samples of group 1 were identified
with a low Ca and Mg content. In our opinion the identification of the Mg, Ca, P amount
from flour in addition to ash content may be very useful for health.
Keywords: mineral, spectroscopy, cluster analysis, metabolism.
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