Prediction of Stilbene Content from Heartwood Increment Cores of Scots Pine Using near Infrared Spectroscopy Methodology

Abstract

High-throughput and non-destructive methods for quantifying the content of the stilbene compounds of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) heartwood are needed in the breeding for decay resistance of heartwood timber. In this study, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy calibrations were developed for a large collection of solid heartwood increment core samples in order to predict the amount of the stilbene pinosylvin (PS), its monomethyl ether (PSM) and their sum (STB). The resulting models presented quite accurate predictions in an independent validation set with R 2 v values ranging between 0.79 and 0.91. The accuracy of the models strongly depended on the chemical being calibrated, with the lowest accuracy for PS, intermediate accuracy for PSM and highest accuracy for STB. The effect of collecting one, two or more (up to five) spectra per sample on the calibration models was studied and it was found that averaging multiple spectra yielded better accuracy as it may account for the heterogeneity of wood along the increment core within and between rings. Several statistical pretreatments of the spectra were tested and an automatic selection of wavenumbers prior to calibration. Without the automatic selection of wavenumbers, a first derivative of normalised spectra yielded the best accuracies, whereas after the automatic selection of wavenumbers, no particular statistical pretreatment appeared to yield better results than any other. Finally, the automatic selection of wavenumbers slightly improved the accuracy of the models for all traits. These results demonstrate the potential of NIR spectroscopy as a high-throughput and non-destructive phenotyping technique in tree breeding for the improvement of decay resistance in heartwood timber.

An efficient method to reduce grain angle influence on NIR spectra for predicting extractives content from heartwood stem cores of T. sinensis

“…To analysis the wood properties for genetic selection, a fast and efficient way to measure the wood properties is needed. NIR spectra of solid wood have been reported that could be a potential method for predict wood properties Pulkka, et al [24]. Similarly to our result, we successfully use of wood cores NIR spectra to predict the EC in the heartwood of T. sinensis.…”

An efficient method to reduce grain angle influence on NIR spectra for predicting extractives content from heartwood stem cores of Toona. sinensis

“…To analyse the wood properties for genetic selection, a fast and efficient way to realize the wood properties is needed. NIR spectra of solid wood is recognized to be a potential method for predicting wood properties [23]. Similar to our result, we successfully make use of wood cores NIR spectra to predict the EC in the heartwood of T. sinensis.…”

An efficient method to reduce grain angle influence on NIR spectra for predicting extractives content from heartwood stem cores of Toona. sinensis

“…To analyze the wood properties for genetic selection, a fast and efficient way to realize the wood properties is needed. NIR spectra of solid wood is recognized as a potential method for predicting wood properties [23]. Similar to our result, we successfully make use of wood cores NIR spectra to predict the EC in the heartwood of T. sinensis.…”