Energy value determinations of industrialized foods: the potential of using X‐ray spectroscopy and partial least squares

This work reports the use of multivariate calibration models to determine energy values (EV) of industrialized dried vegetable products prepared for human consumption. These methods use energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectra allied to chemometrics of the respective samples to substitute conventional EV determinations that are subject to several laborious steps. The samples are grouped in accordance with their principal raw material (corn, wheat, soy, milk and cassava). The chemometric tools applied reveal that the X‐ray scattering spectrum region furnishes the main contribution to the calibration models, where the presence of organic compounds is manifested through small variations in X‐ray scattering effects. These results are expected because EV values are based on the organic contents. The EV determination is fast, does not generate residuals and does not involve toxic reagents. The good results of the validation process (deviations < 14%) indicate that this is an alternative to conventional analytical methods and is very attractive for routine analysis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.