Authentication of Cereal Flours by Multivariate Analysis of GC–MS Data

In this work flour samples of various cereal species, a group of different cultivars of small grain species (wheat, Triticum spp.; barley, Hordeum vulgare; oat, Avena sativa; rye, Secale cereale; triticale, Triticosecale) and cultivars of corn species, Zea Mays, growing in the same period and in the same geographical area, were selected to establish differences between each other, using a new rapid method: a comparison of derivatized hexane extracts by GC–MS and multivariate analysis, using the characteristic fragmentation ion m/z 74, without performing qualitative and quantitative analysis of eluting components. Obtained results were compared with the results obtained using a common electron microscopy method. Flour samples made of every corn and oat cultivar showed complete differences compared to flour samples of each wheat, barley, rye and triticale cultivar investigated in this study. The GC–MS approach combined with multivariate analysis outperforms the standard electron microscopy method in a faster and easier way, and may be used to verify flour types in the market.