ABSTRACT
Research and quality control in cereal science and technology require the determination of the composition and characteristics of grains, other raw materials, and nished products. The chemical composition of cereal grains, milled, and nished products are used to determine nutritive value for labeling purposes, functional characteristics, and acceptability of the wide array of cereal-based products. Numerous methods often are available to assay samples for a specic characteristic or chemical component. Methods are chosen based on specicity, precision, accuracy, and reliability. The most common analytical procedures used in the cereal industry are detailed in the American Association of Cereal Chemists-International (AACC 2000) and in the Association of Ofcial Analytical Chemists (AOAC 2005) ofcial methods of analyses. The AACC provides a check sample service in which a subscribing laboratory performs the specic analyses on the samples. The overall objective is to provide the industry check samples so that their own laboratories can evaluate the reliability of the method and their own analytical infrastructures. The AACC recently changed its paperlaboratory methods to a friendlier Internet program. The advantage of this new program is the continuous updating and reviewing of existing methods.
