Establishment of Non-Destructive Methods for the Detection of Amylose and Fat Content in Single Rice Kernels Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

For the efficient selection of high-quality rice varieties, the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique has been widely applied to detect constituents in single rice kernels. Compared with other constituents, amylose content (AC) and fat content (FC) are the key parameters that can affect the quality of rice. Based on two modified AC and FC trace detection methods, two NIRS methods to detect AC and FC in single rice kernels were developed. Using the proposed methods, the AC and FC in two groups of rice kernel datasets were measured. The datasets were collected on two spectrometers with different sample movement states (static and dynamic) and measurement modes (diffuse reflectance (NIRr) and diffuse transmission (NIRt)). By optimizing the pre-treatment method and spectral range, the determination coefficients of cross-validation (R-cv(2)) and prediction (R-p(2)) of the NIRS models under different measurement conditions were all above 0.6. The results indicated that the proposed methods were applicable to the rapid, non-destructive detection and sorting of individual rice seeds with different AC and FC, and it was shown that these methods can meet the requirements of the rough screening of rice seed varieties.