SIMULTANEOUS EVALUATION OF QUALITY PARAMETERS OF DURUM-WHEAT (TRITICUM-DURUM) BY NEAR-INFRARED REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY

Protein content and colour are two important commercial quality factor s of durum wheat. Considering that the traditional methods for the det ermination of these components are very time-consuming, rapid systems, capable of performing multiple analyses, could be beneficial for the grain trade. In recent years, Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy ( NIRS) has been widely used for moisture and protein determination. Thi s study presents NIRS calibrations for protein content and colour eval uation in ground grain of durum wheat, (Triticum durum) samples, repre sentative of the main cultivars grown in Italy. The calibrations gave high coefficients of determination (R-2) and low standard errors (SEC) . Linear relationships were obtained between reference measurements (K jeldahl test and Minolta Chroma Meter colour space measurements) and N IRS estimates in the validation sample set, The results obtained on ad vanced breeders' lines showed NIRS to be effective as a rapid screenin g tool for simultaneously evaluating different quality parameters of d urum wheat cultivars.