The identification of vegetable matter using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

A comparison of Fourier transform infrared methods for identifying vegetable matter is presented. Results from diffuse reflectance (DRIFTS) and FTIR microscopy on samples of cell wall material from 10 different species of fruits and vegetables are presented and compared with results from a KBr disc method. All three methods are able to discriminate between a test sample (apple) and non-apple samples. However, there are significant spectral variations from method to method which preclude the use of spectral libraries obtained by one method being used to identify spectra obtained by another method.