Use of near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy to Analyse Bovine Faecal Samples

Abstract

Near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was used to predict nitrogen (N), acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and chromium (Cr) in beef faecal samples. One hundred and twenty faecal samples were scanned in a NIRSystems 6500 monochromator instrument over the wavelength range of 400–2500 nm in reflectance. Calibration equations were developed using modified partial least squares (MPLS) with internal cross validation to avoid overfitting. The coefficient of determination in calibration ( R2cal) and the standard error in cross validation ( SECV) were 0.80 (0.74) for N, 0.92 (12.04) for ADF, 0.86 (13.5) for NDF and 0.56 (0.07) for Cr in g kg−1 dry weight, respectively. Results for validation were 0.78 ( SEP: 0.1) for N, 0.74 ( SEP: 7.5) for ADF, 0.85 ( SEP: 8.5) for NDF and 0.10 (0.09) for Cr in g kg−1 dry weight, respectively.