Near-infrared spectroscopy combined with equidistant combination partial least squares applied to multi-index analysis of corn

Development of small, dedicated, reagentless, and low-cost spectrometer has broad application prospects in large-scale agriculture. An appropriate wavelength selection method is a key, albeit difficult, technical aspect. A novel wavelength selection method, named equidistant combination partial least squares (EC-PLS), was applied for wavenumber selection for near-infrared analysis of crude protein, moisture, and crude fat in corn. Based on the EC-PLS, a model set that includes various models equivalent to the optimal model was proposed to select independent and joint-analyses models. The independent analysis models for crude protein, moisture, and crude fat contained only 16, 12, and 22 wavenumbers, whereas the joint-analyses model for the three indicators contained only 27 wavenumbers.Random validation samples excluded from the modeling process were used to validate the four selected models. For the independent analysis models, the validation root mean square errors (V_SEP), validation correlation coefficients (V_R_P), and relative validation root mean square errors (V_RSEP) of prediction were 0.271%, 0.946, and 2.8% for crude protein, 0.275%, 0.936, and 2.6% for moisture, and 0.183%, 0.924, and 4.5% for crude fat, respectively. For the joint-analyses model, the V_SEP, V_R_P, and V_RSEP were 0.302%, 0.934, and 3.2% for crude protein, 0.280%, 0.935, and 2.7% for moisture, and 0.228%, 0.910, and 5.6% for crude fat, respectively. The results indicated good validation effects and low complexity. Thus, the established models were simple and efficient.The proposed wavenumber selection method provided also valuable reference for designing small dedicated spectrometer for corn. Moreover, the methodological framework and optimization algorithm are universal, such that they can be applied to other fields.