Non-destructive testing of proteins in single seeds using the 14N(d,p)15N and 14N(d,∝)12C reactions

A non-destructive nuclear technique aimed for the analysis of proteins in single seeds using the 14N(d,p)15N and 14N(d,∝)12C reactions is implemented. This work was performed at the ININ's Tandem Van der Graaff facility, using a 6 MeV deuteron beam and a surface barrier solid state detector with its associated electronics for the pulse height analysis of the charged particles backscattered from the samples. Well defined populations of five varieties of wheat, and four of corn were used as samples in order to optimize the experimental conditions for the analysis, these results were compared with those obtained using an analytical chemical method (Kjeldahl). The linear regression coefficient (''r'') obtained from the results of these two methods was: r = 0.9 in the case of wheat, and r = 0.7 in the case of corn, which we consider adequate figures for using the non-destructive nuclear technique as an aid or support in agricultural seed protein improvement programs. In adequate geometrical conditions the analysis per seed can take a few seconds, and the exposure to the germ can be as low as ≅1 Rad. (author)