Research Progress of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in Oat Quality Control

Oats (Avena sativa L.) are an analytically demanding cereal. They carry a lipid fraction of roughly 5–9% together with high lipase and lipoxygenase activity, a protein fraction dominated by globulins, a high-molecular-weight (1→3), (1→4)-β-D-glucan, and avenanthramides that occur in no other grain. Each of these fractions changes during kilning, milling, storage, and fermentation, and each change affects a quality attribute of commercial consequence. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, interpreted with chemometric models, offers a rapid and non-destructive route to several of these attributes from a single measurement. This review draws the oat-specific literature together. It covers the identification, classification and authentication of oat material, including: the separation of oats from gluten-containing cereals, the discrimination of cultivars and of commercial milled forms, and the grading of grain; the prediction of quality parameters and the compositional analysis of moisture, β-glucan, protein, starch and lipid; the molecular changes that accompany processing and storage—β-glucan depolymerisation, lipid oxidation and hydrolysis, thermally induced protein aggregation, avenanthramide degradation and starch retrogradation—and the spectral features by which sound and deteriorated oat material can be discriminated; and the portable and handheld instruments now bringing the measurement closer to the production line. Reported calibrations are frequently accurate but rest on limited sample sets, and multi-site validation together with shared reference spectra remains the principal requirement before routine industrial use.