Nondestructive Prediction of Fatty Acid Composition in Sesame Seeds by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to develop a rapid and nondestructive method for the determination of fatty acid composition in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) seed oil. A total of ninety-three samples of intact seeds were scanned in the reflectance mode of a scanning monochromator, and reference values for fatty acid composition were measured by gas-liquid chromatography. Calibration equations were developed using modified partial least square regression with internal cross validation (n=63). The equations obtained had low standard errors of cross-validation and moderate $R^2$ (coefficient of determination in calibration). Prediction of an external validation set (n=30) showed significant correlation between reference values and NIRS estimated values based on the SEP (standard error of prediction), $r^2$ (coefficient of determination in prediction) and the ratio of standard deviation (SD) of reference data to SEP. The models developed in this study had relatively higher values (more than 2.0) of SD/SEP(C) for oleic and linoleic acid, having good correlation between reference and NIRS estimate. The results indicated that NIRS, a nondestructive screening method could be used to rapidly determine fatty acid composition in sesame seeds in the breeding programs for high quality sesame oil.