Measurement of wheat hardness by near infrared transmittance spectroscopy

Abstract

583 samples of wheat cultivars from major wheat production area collected in 2001 and 2002 seasons were used to measure kernel hardness by near infrared transmittance (NIT) spectroscopy. Two algorithms, i.e. partial least squares and multiple linear regression, and three variable transformations, i.e. log 1/T, first derivative of log 1/T and second derivative of log 1/T, were compared for hardness testing. Results showed that the partial least squares and the first derivative of log 1/T were preferable, and the classification accuracy was achieved 90% for hard type, 83% for soft type, and 63% for mixed type, respectively. Wheat kernel hardness test by NIT spectroscopy could be used for early generation selection in wheat breeding program and quick testing for wheat quality.