Near infrared hyperspectral imaging and spectral unmixing methods for evaluation of fiber distribution in enriched pasta.

Pasta is mostly composed by wheat flour and water. Nevertheless, flour can be partially replaced by fibers to provide extra nutrients in the diet. However, fiber can affect the technological quality of pasta if not properly distributed. Usually, determinations of parameters in pasta are destructive and time-consuming. The use of Near Infrared-Hyperspectral Imaging (NIR-HSI), together with machine learning methods, is valuable to improve the efficiency in the assessment of pasta quality. This work aimed to investigate the ability of NIR-HSI and augmented Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least Squares (MCR-ALS) for the evaluation, resolution and quantification of fiber distribution in enriched pasta. Results showed R between 0.28 and 0.89, %LOF < 6%, variance explained over 99%, and similarity between pure and recovered spectra over 96% and 98% in models using pure flour and control as initial estimates, respectively, demonstrating the applicability of NIR-HSI and MCR-ALS in the identification of fiber in pasta.