Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Research article2016Peer reviewed

Feasibility of visible + near infrared spectroscopy for non-destructive verification of European × Japanese larch hybrid seeds

Farhadi, Mostafa; Tigabu, Mulualem; Stener, Lars-Göran; Oden, Per Christer

Abstract

Planting various hybrids of larch species in commercial forestry has gained increased importance around the world. However, there are uncertainties about the genetic purity of hybrid larch seed lots due to mixture of pure and hybrid seeds in the outputs of commercial hybrid larch seed orchards. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of visible + near infrared (Vis + NIR) spectroscopy to distinguish European x Japanese larch (Larix x eurolepis) from pure European (Larix decidua) and Japanese (Larix kaempferi) larch seeds. Vis + NIR reflectance spectra were obtained using single seeds, and discriminant models were developed with partial-least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) on both raw and pre-treated spectra. The best PLS-DA model assigned L. x eurolepis and L. decidua seeds to their respective classes with 100 % accuracy while that of L. kaempferi with 97 % accuracy. The best OPLS-DA model resulted in 100 % classification accuracy of pure and hybrid larch seeds. The origins of spectral differences between pure and hybrid larch seeds were attributed to differences in color, seed moisture content, fatty acids and proteins. In conclusion, the result demonstrates the feasibility of Vis + NIR spectroscopy as a powerful non-destructive method for verification of hybrid larch seeds, which is of great importance in maintaining the genetic purity of hybrid seed lots and for monitoring natural hybridization in commercial open pollinated mixed species seed orchard.

Keywords

Hybridization; Larix; NIRS; OPLS; Seed orchard; Seed quality

Published in

New Forests
2016, Volume: 47, number: 2, pages: 271-285
Publisher: SPRINGER