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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #324761
Title: Near-infrared hyperspectral imaging system coupled with multivariate methods to predict viability and vigor in muskmelon seeds

Author
item KANDPAL, LALIT - Chungnam National University
item LOHOMI, SANTOSH - Chungnam National University
item Kim, Moon
item KANG, JUM-SOON - Pusan National University
item CHO, BYOUNG-KWAN - Chungnam National University

Submitted to: Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/4/2016
Publication Date: 2/7/2016
Citation: Kandpal, L., Lohomi, S., Kim, M.S., Cho, B. 2016. Estimation of germination ability of muskmelon seeds using hyperspectral imaging technique with variable selection and chemometrics. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 229:534-544.

Interpretive Summary: In recent years, food security has gained increased public attention due to concerns arising from climate change, land degradation, and water availability, coupled with the projected increase in human population. Seed viability and vigor are the two most important parameters directly related to seed germination performance and seedling emergence (e.g., crop and plant productions). In general, seeds start to lose vigor before they lose their ability to germinate; therefore, vigor (germination potential) testing is an important practice in seed production programs. Non-destructive methods using hyperspectral imaging in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral region were developed to predict viability and vigor (in terms of germination periods) in muskmelon seeds. The results demonstrated that the numerical method developed in this investigation can achieve a high classification accuracy (94.6%) for determining the viability and vigor of muskmelon seeds. The methods and results shown in this research will benefit seed growers and seed industries.

Technical Abstract: A near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system was used to predict viability and vigor (in term of germination periods) in muskmelon seeds. Hyperspectral images of muskmelon seeds were acquired using a NIR push-broom HSI system covering the spectral range of 948–2494 nm. After NIR spectra collection, all seeds underwent a germination test to confirm their viability and vigor. The spectra from seeds with 3 and 5 germination days and nongerminated seeds were further used for development of a classification model of partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). Most effective wavelengths were selected using three model-based variable selection methods, i.e., variable important in projection (VIP), selectivity ratio (SR), and significance multivariate correlation (sMC), which selected 23, 18, and 19 optimal variables, respectively, from full set of 208 variables. The selected variables from different waveband selection methods were found genuine and significant for interpreting the prediction results of seed viability and vigor. Subsequently, the PLS-DA model was constructed using individual VIP-, SR-, or sMC-selected variables. The results demonstrated that the PLSDA model developed with the selected optimal variables from the different methods provided comparable results for the calibration set; however, the PLSDA-SR method afforded the highest classification accuracy (94.6%)for a validation set used to determine the viability and vigor of muskmelon seeds. The wavelengths selected by the different methods represent chemical components of the seed and the attribute of germination ability was chosen most often.