Rapid and non-destructive analysis of vigour of Pinus patula seeds using single seed near infrared transmittance spectra and multivariate analysis

Abstract

Summary The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of near infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis for rapid analysis of vigour of pine seeds. To test this, non-aged seeds and seeds exposed to accelerated ageing treatments at 41°C and ca. 100% RH for three, seven and nine days were employed. Near infrared transmittance spectra were recorded on individual seeds using a 1225 Infratec analyser from 850-1048 nm at 2 nm resolutions. The NIR spectroscopic data were analysed by Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) and Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) and later applied to classify new samples. The results showed that non-aged and aged seeds were distinguished with 100% classification accuracy. Among aged seeds, 80% of three-day aged seeds were correctly distinguished from those aged for seven or nine days. Seeds aged for seven or nine days were correctly identified with 90% and 75% accuracies, respectively from three-day aged seeds. Absorption bands correlating to lipids, proteins and other compounds were accounted for the classification of non-aged and aged seeds. In conclusion, the results show that NIR spectroscopy has a great potential for classifying aged seeds and may be used for sorting deteriorated seeds from a seed lot.