Measurements of Chemical Compositions in Corn Stover and Wheat Straw by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Rapid, non-destructive methods for determining the biochemical composition of straw are crucial in ruminant diets. In this work, ground samples of corn stover (<i>n</i> = 156) and wheat straw (<i>n</i> = 135) were scanned using near-infrared spectroscopy (instrument NIRS DS2500). Samples were divided into two sets, with one set used for calibration (corn stover, <i>n</i> = 126; wheat straw, <i>n</i> = 108) and the remaining set used for validation (corn stover, <i>n</i> = 30; wheat straw, <i>n</i> = 27). Calibration models were developed utilizing modified partial least squares (MPLS) regression with internal cross validation. Concentrations of moisture, crude protein (CP), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were successfully predicted in corn stover, and CP and moisture were in wheat straw, but other nutritional components were not predicted accurately when using single-crop samples. All samples were then combined to form new calibration (<i>n</i> = 233) and validation (<i>n</i> = 58) sets comprised of both corn stover and wheat straw. For these combined samples, the CP, NDF, and ADF were predicted successfully; the coefficients of determination for calibration (RSQ_C) were 0.9625, 0.8349, and 0.8745, with ratios of prediction to deviation (RPD) of 6.872, 2.210, and 2.751, respectively. The acid detergent lignin (ADL) and moisture were classified as moderately useful, with RSQ_C values of 0.7939 (RPD = 2.259) and 0.8342 (RPD = 1.868), respectively. Although the prediction of hemicellulose was only useful for screening purposes (RSQ_C = 0.4388, RPD = 1.085), it was concluded that NIRS is a suitable technique to rapidly evaluate the nutritional value of forage crops.