ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Food Processing Technology, Food Safety & Quality, Processing and Food Engineering · India · ICAR through the National Testing Agency
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersHow a food laboratory measures what is in a food: sampling, proximate analysis, official methods, and the instruments — spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry and electrophoresis — that a food analyst runs. It is the core of the food analyst qualification in countries that license analysts.
In the exams: ICAR AIEEA-PG Code 18 Unit I (modern analytical techniques in food analysis); ICAR AICE 35.b Unit 6 (research techniques); core of food analyst examinations
ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Food Processing Technology, Food Safety & Quality, Processing and Food Engineering
35.b Unit 6 names spectroscopy (visible, IR, UV), chromatography (TLC, GLC, HPLC, gel filtration, ion exchange, affinity), electrophoresis (PAGE, SDS-PAGE), isoelectric focusing, ultracentrifugation and potentiometry; 35.b Unit 1 names ISO/IEC 17025 and NABL accreditation. Expect deeper questions on MS/MS, matrix effects, validation statistics and quality control.
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Food Analysis: Proximate, Chemical & Instrumental Methods. Difficulty: 5 easy, 49 medium, 15 hard.
| Method validation and quality control in the analytical laboratory | 11 | |
| UV-visible, fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy | 7 | |
| Mass spectrometry and hyphenated techniques | 7 | |
| Vitamin analysis | 6 | |
| Chromatography: TLC, GC and HPLC | 6 | |
| Electrophoresis and immunoassays: SDS-PAGE and ELISA | 6 | |
| Carbohydrates, sugars and dietary fibre | 5 | |
| Atomic absorption and ICP spectroscopy | 5 | |
| Moisture and total solids | 3 | |
| Protein: Kjeldahl and Dumas methods | 3 | |
| Sampling and sample preparation | 2 | |
| Official methods and method compendia: AOAC, ISO and national manuals | 2 | |
| Ash and mineral analysis | 2 | |
| Fat: Soxhlet, Mojonnier and Gerber methods | 2 | |
| Physical tests: pH, titratable acidity, refractometry and colour | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
In the Codex classification of methods, a Type I (defining) method is one that
D. defines a value obtainable only by that method
Type I defines the value (e.g. some empirical methods); Type II is reference; Type III alternative approved; Type IV tentative.
Further reading: Codex CXS 234, General Standard for Methods of Analysis and Sampling
Karl Fischer titration is preferred for low-moisture products because it
C. measures water specifically
The iodine–sulphur dioxide reaction is specific to water; oven methods count all volatiles.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
Before HPLC of vitamins A and E in fatty foods, samples are usually
A. saponified
Alkaline saponification removes triglycerides and releases the vitamins for extraction.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
Near-infrared analysers for grain protein rely on
C. multivariate calibration against reference methods
NIR bands overlap, so chemometric models (e.g. PLS) are built from samples analysed by Kjeldahl or Dumas.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
In UV-visible spectrophotometers, the lamp used for the ultraviolet region is usually a
D. deuterium lamp
Deuterium for UV, tungsten-halogen for visible; hollow-cathode lamps are for AAS.
Further reading: Skoog, Holler and Crouch, Principles of Instrumental Analysis
Mercury is commonly determined by
D. cold-vapour atomic absorption
Mercury is reduced to elemental vapour and measured without a flame; hydride generation is used for arsenic and selenium.
Further reading: Skoog, Holler and Crouch, Principles of Instrumental Analysis
In reversed-phase HPLC on a C18 column with water–methanol, the compounds that elute first are
A. the most polar
Polar compounds interact weakly with the non-polar stationary phase and elute early.
Further reading: Skoog, Holler and Crouch, Principles of Instrumental Analysis
Sandwich ELISA is suited to food allergens because allergenic proteins
B. have at least two antibody-binding sites
Capture and detection antibodies bind different epitopes of the large protein.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
A blank's standard deviation is 0.02 absorbance units and the calibration slope 0.5 absorbance per mg/L. Using LOQ ≈ 10σ/S, the limit of quantification is
C. 0.40 mg/L
LOQ = 10 × 0.02/0.5 = 0.40 mg/L. 0.132 is the LOD (3.3σ/S); 0.01 multiplies σ by S; 2.50 inverts.
Further reading: Eurachem, The Fitness for Purpose of Analytical Methods
In India, laboratories testing food for regulatory purposes are commonly required to be accredited by
D. NABL to ISO/IEC 17025
NABL is India's accreditation body for testing and calibration laboratories under ISO/IEC 17025.
Further reading: Eurachem, The Fitness for Purpose of Analytical Methods
Ten here, 69 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
An AI operating system for agriculture: free guides, manuals and tools written for every country.