engleski

Pollen analysis by transmittance FT-IR spectroscopy

Pollen analysis is almost exclusively based on visual identification of pollen grains under microscope by a qualified specialist. Palynological studies, like aeroallergens monitoring, would greatly benefit if such tedious and time-consuming measurement could be replaced by an automated black-box approach. Vibrational spectroscopy is emerging in recent years as a promising tool for objective pollen identification and a viable alternative to microscopy [1, 2]. The present study describes a method for pollen analysis based on chemical characterization by transmittance FT-IR spectroscopy, one of the oldest and most extensively used spectroscopic techniques. The measurements on pollen samples belonging to 113 plant species clearly show value of FT-IR spectroscopy for biological classification and identification of pollen. Furthermore, the applicability of the method for environmental monitoring was demonstrated by implementing sizeable spectral library with 40 pollen taxa for successful quantitative and qualitative analysis of binary pollen mixtures. Mentioned results imply that FT-IR spectroscopy can be easy and bias-free alternative to optical microscopy in pollen analysis. The method itself is simple, rapid and inexpensive, necessary know-how and instrumentation is rudimentary, and therefore it can be immediately tested, adapted and implemented worldwide in environmental and healthcare studies. Lastly, a detailed vibrational study of 39 pollen samples belonging to Pinales order was conducted using transmittance FT-IR, single reflection ATR FT-IR, and FT-Raman (laser source 1064 nm) spectroscopy. The results of these measurements once again indicate that identification methods based on spectral search can offer rapid taxonomic classification in various environmental studies.

pollen; vibrational spectroscopy

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