title: Determination by near infrared microscopy of the nitrogen and carbon content of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) leaf powder.
abstract: Near infrared microscopy (NIRM) has been developed as a rapid technique to predict the chemical composition of foods, reduce analytical costs and time and ease sample preparation. In this study, NIRM has been evaluated as an alternative to classical chemical analysis to determine the nitrogen and carbon content of small samples of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) leaf powder. Near infrared spectra were obtained by NIRM for independent leaf samples collected on 216 plants grown under six different levels of nitrogen. From these, 30 calibration and 30 validation samples covering the spectral range of the whole set were selected and their nitrogen and carbon contents were determined by a reference method. The calibration model obtained for nitrogen content proved to be excellent, with a coefficient of determination in calibration (R(2)c) higher than 0.9 and a ratio of performance to deviation (RPDc) higher than 3. Statistical indicators of prediction using the validation set were also very high (R(2)p values > 0.90). However, the calibration model obtained for carbon content was much less satisfactory (R(2)c < 0.50). NIRM appears as a promising and suitable tool for a rapid, non-destructive and reliable determination of nitrogen content of tiny samples of tomato leaf powder.
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Earth and Life Institute - Agronomy (ELI-A), de Serres Building, Croix du Sud 2, L7.05.11, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gauthier
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lequeue
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Earth and Life Institute - Agronomy (ELI-A), de Serres Building, Croix du Sud 2, L7.05.11, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Draye
authors.affiliation: Walloon Agricultural Research Centre. Valorisation of Agricultural Products Department, Food and Feed quality Unit, Henseval Building, Chaussée de Namur 24, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baeten
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen