Visible + Near Infrared Spectroscopy as taxonomic tool for identifying birch species

• Main Authors: Tigabu, Mulualem, Farhadi, Mostafa, Stener, Lars-Göran, Odén, Per
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Finnish Society of Forest Science 2018-01-01
• Series: Silva Fennica
• Online Access: https://www.silvafennica.fi/article/9996

The genus L. is composed of several species, which are difficult to distinguish in the field on the basis of morphological traits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the taxonomic importance of using visible + near infrared (Vis + NIR) spectra of single seeds for differentiating Roth and Ehrh. Seeds from several families (controlled crossings of known parent trees) of each species were used and Vis + NIR reflectance spectra were obtained from single seeds. Multivariate discriminant models were developed by Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures â Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA). The OPLS-DA model fitted on Vis + NIR spectra recognized with 100% classification accuracy while the prediction accuracy of class membership for was 99%. However, the discriminant models fitted on NIR spectra alone resulted in 100% classification accuracies for both species. Absorption bands accounted for distinguishing between birch species were attributed to differences in color and chemical composition, presumably polysaccharides, proteins and fatty acids, of the seeds. In conclusion, the results demonstrate the feasibility of NIR spectroscopy as taxonomic tool for classification of species that have morphological resemblance.BetulaBetula pendulaBetula pubescensB. pubescensB. pendula