THE NEAR-INFRARED DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE IN WHOLE DATES

Whole dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.) were analyzed for moisture content using near infrared spectrophotometry in a direct transmittance geometry. In the calibration experiment using 72 samples, the correlation coefficient was 0.977 and the standard error of calibration (SEC) was 0.89%. When the calibration equation was used to predict the moisture in another set of 72 date samples, the standard error of performance (SEP) was 1.5%. When the method was used to sort these 72 dates into four industry-standard grades, 74% were correctly graded and 15% missed the grade by < 1 SEC.