Acid detergent fiber analysis in oilseed Brassicas by near-infrared spectroscopy

The potential of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for determining the acid detergent fiber (ADF) in the seed of oilseed Brassica (fam. Brassicaceae) was assessed. One hundred and fifty accessions belonging to the species Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern.& Coss.), Ethiopian mustard (B. carinata A. Braun) and rapeseed (B. napus L.) were scanned by NIRS as intact and ground seed, and their ADF values were regressed against different spectra transformations by modified partial least squares regression. The coefficients of determination in the external validation (r(2)) for intact and ground seed were 0.83 and 0.85, respectively. The standard deviation to standard error of prediction ratio and range to standard error of prediction ratio were 2.40 and 10.75 for intact seed and 2.62 and 11.76 for ground seed. No significant differences in the prediction were found for both sample presentations. Effects of the C-H and O-H groups of lipids and water, respectively, as well as protein and chlorophyll, were most important in modeling these equations.