Determination of sucrose content in sugar beet by portable visible and near-infrared spectroscopy

Visible and near-infrared spectra in interactance mode were acquired for intact and sliced beet samples, using two portable spectrometers for the spectral regions of 400-1100 nm and 900-1600 nm, respectively. Sucrose prediction models for intact and sliced beets were developed and then validated. The spectrometer for 400-1100 nm was able to predict the sucrose content with correlations of prediction (rp) of 0.80 and 0.88 and standard errors of prediction (SEPs) of 0.89% and 0.70%, for intact beets and beet slices, respectively. The spectrometer for 900-1600 nm had rp values of 0.74 and 0.88 and SEPs of 1.02% and 0.69% for intact beets and beet slices. These results showed the feasibility of using the portable spectrometer to predict the sucrose content of beet slices. Using simple correlation analysis, the study also identified important wavelengths that had strong correlation with the sucrose content.