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Relationship Between NIR Spectra and RVA Parameters During Wheat Germination

¹Department of Biochemistry and Food Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary. ²Corresponding author. E-mail: salgo@mail.bme.hu

The process of germination in six different wheat cultivars was monitored using NIR spectroscopy and the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) method. Near-infrared spectra provided insight into both chemical and physical changes that occur in the seed, in particular mobilization processes involving carbohydrates. RVA curves also contain physical and chemical information and can be interpreted as physicochemical spectra. The process of germination was followed sensitively through the RVA curves and some rheological parameters (peak viscosity, trough, breakdown, final viscosity, and setback) were highly correlated (R = 0.95–0.98) with predicted values calculated from NIR spectra. Viscosity data calculated from RVA curves collected at 200–480 sec showed the most characteristic changes during the early heat treatment stage of the pasting procedure. Strong intercorrelations were found between viscosity data and NIR spectra from the beginning of the swelling and gelatinization processes in germinating seed. The NIR and RVA methods were sensitive tools for the rapid investigation of the germination process, which is important both from a physiological and technological point of view.