The differentiation of cultivars is carried out by means of morphological descriptors, in addition to molecular markers. In this work, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and chemometric techniques were used to develop classification models for two different commercial sesame cultivars (Sesamum indicum) and 3 different strains. The diffuse reflectance spectra were recorded in the region of 700 to 2500 nm. Based on the application of chemometric techniques: principal component analysis—PCA, hierarchical cluster analysis—HCA, k-nearest neighbor—KNN and the flexible independent modeling of class analogy—SIMCA, from the infrared spectra in the near region, it was possible to perform the genotyping of two sesame cultivars (BRS Seda and BRS Anahí), and to classify these cultivars with 3 different sesame strains, obtaining 100% accurate results. Due to the good results obtained with the implemented models, the potential of the methods for a possible realization of forensic, fast and non-destructive authentication, in intact sesame seeds was evident.

Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted great attention owing to their applications in the biomedical field. In the present work, maghemite ( γ Fe ₂ O ₃ ) NPs of 6.5 nm were prepared using a sonochemical method and used to prepare magnetic beads through silanization with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTS). Subsequently, amino groups in the resulting APTS- γ Fe ₂ O ₃ beads were converted to carboxylic acid (CARB- γ Fe ₂ O ₃ ) through the succinic anhydride reaction, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. The size of these beads was measured as 12 nm and their hydrodynamic diameter as 490 nm, using TEM analysis and DLS, respectively. The CARB- γ Fe ₂ O ₃ beads were further functionalized by immobilizing rabbit antibodies on their surfaces; the immobilization was confirmed by flow cytometry and ionic strength. The samples were further characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy and DC magnetization measurements. Studies on magnetic relaxivities showed that magnetic beads present great potential for application in MR imaging.