Animal fats identification using raman spectroscopy D. Afdal, N.S. Aminah, M. Djamal
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Abstract
Food of the highest quality and safety is a basic requirement for human life. However, we live in the age of globalization, which brings rapid changes to people, cultures, economies, societies, and the environment. These changes include global alerts, international trade regulations, and non-tariff barriers. These factors affect food security and sustainability. Food safety requires reliable procedures that guarantee the animal fat^s origin. In the present work, we attempt to verify the effectiveness of using polymorphic fat characteristics to distinguish animal fat origins. We use Raman spectroscopy to detect the structural information about fat crystals. It is shown that a single Raman band at 1421 cm-1 distinguishes pork fat from beef fat. This band is characteristic of the β-^ polymorphism of fats. Pork fats show this band because they contain the β-^ polymorph after rapid cooling at room temperature. In beef-pork fat mixtures, this band is not detected even at 50% pork fat- the addition of beef fat to pork fat is likely to result in a mixed fat with a completely different polymorphic behavior. This method appears to detect beef products contaminated with pork fat.
