Oil Content Analysis of Sunflower by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Solvent Extraction, and Near-Infrared Reflectance: A Cost Study

Excerpts from the report: The Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) is in the process of evaluating the need for federal standards for sunflower. If standards are developed, oil should be considered as a factor for determining sunflower quality. The information contained in this study will be useful in determining the feasibility and cost of various methods of oil determinations. This report should also provide useful guidelines for anyone in the grain industry considering investment in oil determination apparatus. Grain producers, handlers, merchandisers, and laboratories concerned with oil content testing can use this information to plan improvement of their specific operations and their profit. Cost estimates indicate that using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and near-infrared reflectance (NIR) instruments to measure oil content of sunflower is both practical and advantageous over solvent extraction (SE) procedures in most cases. Operating procedures for both the NMR and NIR are simple and there is no use of hazardous solvents as required by SE. Previous studies have shown a high positive correlation between NMR and SE determinations