Optical compositional analyzer apparatus and method for detection of ash in wheat and milled wheat products

An optical analyzing apparatus for obtaining a compositional quantitative measurement of an analyte concentration in a multiple constituent flour product sample, said optical analyzing apparatus comprising:

• light emitter means formed for irradiating the sample with light energy;
• first filter means positioned between said light emitter means and said sample, and permitting irradiation of said sample by predetermining wavelength of light energy in the visible light spectrum in the range between about 530 nm to about 550 nm selected to be active in response to the presence of said analyte;
• second filter means positioned between said light emitter means and said sample, and permitting irradiation of said sample by a predetermined wavelength of light energy in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum in the range between about 1350 nm to about 1370 nm selected to be active in response to the presence of at least one of the remaining constituents in the sample;
• detector means positioned to detect one of optical reflectance and transmissivity of the sample after said irradiation at said wavelength in the NIR spectrum and said wavelength in the visible spectrum;
• and
• computation means coupled to said detector means for calculating said compositional quantitative measurement from the detected one of reflectance and transmissivity of the sample.

A method for optically obtaining quantitative compositional correlation spectroscopy measurements of an anlayte concentration in a multiple constituent flour product sample, said method comprising the steps of:

• irradiating said flour product sample with a predetermined first wavelength of light energy in the visible light spectrum selected to be active in response to the presence of said analyte;
• detecting one of a first optical reflectance and a first optical transmissivity of the flour product sample after said irradiation at said first wavelength;
• irradiating said flour product sample with a predetermined second wavelength of light energy in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum selected to be active in response to the presence of at least one of the remaining constituents in the flour product sample;
• detecting one of a second optical reflectance and a second optical transmissivity of the flour product sample after said irradiation at said second wavelength;
• calculating a value of said concentration of said analyte using a compositional correlation spectroscopy algorithm from said first and said second detected one of reflectance and transmissivity of the flour product sample.