Application of Colorimetry in Determination of the beta-Glucan Content in Food

Kolorimetrija, kao instrumentalna tehnika, ubraja se u optičke metode analize, a temelji na Lambert-Beerovom zakonu. Lambert-Beerov zakon opisuje pojavu apsorpcije svjetlosnog zračenja u otopini. Ovom tehnikom, koncentracija neke otopine može se odrediti prema intenzitetu boje te otopine odnosno prema Lambert-Beerovom zakonu koncentracija otopine direktno je proporcionalna apsorbanciji. Beta-glukan je složena molekula polisaharida prirodno prisutna u staničnoj stijenci ječma, zobi, pšenice i slično. Cilj ovog završnog rada je bio opisati kolorimetriju kao optičku metodu analize, uređaj za provedbu mjerenja te opisati njezinu primjenu na određivanje sadržaja beta-glukana u hrani.Colorimetry is an instrumental technique and one of the optical methods of analysis, based on Lambert-Beer's law. Lambert-Beer's law describes the phenomenon of absorption of light radiation in solution. With this technique, the concentration of a solution can be determined by the intensity of the colour of the solution, or by the Lambert-Beer law, the concentration of the solution is directly proportional to the absorbance. β-glucan is a complex molecule of polysaccharides naturally present in the cell wall of barley, oats, wheat and so on. The aim of this paper was to describe colourimetry as an optical analysis method, a measurement device, and to describe its application to the determination of β-glucan in food