The Relative Performance of a Benchtop Scanning Monochromator and Handheld Fourier Transform Near-Infrared...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Advanced manufacturing has led to low-cost, on-chip spectrometers.
• Limited research compares these new instruments to established technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the performance of a benchtop spectrometer (FOSS NIRSystems 6500) with a handheld spectrometer (NeoSpectra-Scanner).
• To develop and assess predictive models for forage composition using both instruments.

Main Methods:

• Developed mixed-species prediction models for forage constituents (NDF, IVTD, NDFD, ADF, ADL, CP).
• Utilized spectra from both FOSS NIRSystems 6500 and NeoSpectra-Scanner.
• Validated models using an independent dataset.

Main Results:

• Benchtop models showed excellent prediction accuracy (R²P 0.90-0.97) with low standard errors of prediction.
• Handheld models exhibited a slight average increase in prediction error (+0.14 SEP) and a minor decrease in R²P (-0.002).

Conclusions:

• Handheld spectrometers demonstrate significant utility and comparable performance to benchtop systems for forage analysis.
• On-chip spectrometers are a viable, potentially more accessible, alternative for predicting forage nutritional content.