Utilization of synchrotron-based and globar-sourced mid-infrared spectroscopy for faba nutritional research about molecular structural and nutritional interaction

Abstract

The traditional wet chemistry analysis is to use combination of specific chemical reactions to quantify a group of compounds with similar chemical and nutritional properties. However, plant cell wall complex is not uniform in terms of chemical, physical or nutritional characteristics and the digestion progress is achieved by a series of enzymatic hydrolysis of specific chemical bonds which cannot be revealed by wet chemistry analysis. Synchrotron-based and globar-sourced mid-infrared spectroscopy instead utilizing the unique absorption of mid-infrared light at different frequencies and more information about specific chemical bonds can be revealed. As a result, taking spectral change during digestion into consideration may give some insight about nutritional utilization features. However, the utilization of synchrotron-based and globar-sourced mid-infrared spectroscopy on feed and food nutritional research is limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide idea about how to systematically study the nutritional and spectral structure feature of faba bean with traditional and advanced synchrotron-based and globar-sourced vibrational molecular spectroscopy. The study reviews (1) Utilization of faba bean for human and animal consumption; (2) Traditional evaluation methods for faba bean nutritional characteristics and (3) Contribution of synchrotron-based and globar-sourced mid-infrared (Mid-IR) spectroscopy techniques to evaluate faba bean structural and molecular properties.

Keywords:

• Vibrational molecular spectroscopy
• chemistry and structure
• nutritional availability
• faba utilization
• nutrition and structure interaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

The Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Chair (PY) Programs are supported by various funding agencies and industry and producer organizations: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Grants), the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG), the Agriculture Strategic Research Chair Program Fund, The Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA), the Agricultural Development Fund (ADF), the SaskMilk, the SaskCanola, the Saskatchewan Forage Network (SNK), the Western Grain Research Foundation (WGRF) etc. The Misiwêskamik International Postdoctoral Fellowship (XF) from the University of Saskatchewan is acknowledged. The National Synchrotron Light Source in BrookhavenNational Laboratory (NSLS-BNL, New York, USA),Advanced Light Source in Berkeley National Laboratory (ALS-BNL) are supported by the U.S. Department ofEnergy. Canadian Light Source Inc. (CLS) at University ofSaskatchewan (Saskatoon, Canada) is supported by variousCanadian federal and provincial funds. The authors aregrateful to Na Liu and Chithra Karunakaran for helpful synchrotrondata collection at CLS, Lisa Miller (NSLS-BNL,New York) for synchrotron beamtime arrangement at ALSand NSLS, valuable discussion and/or collaborations, andRandy Smith (NSLS-BNL, New York) and Hans Bechtel (ALS, Berkeley) for helpful synchrotron data collection atALS and NSLS