DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE-CONTENT OF GINSENG BY NEAR-INFRARED REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY

Near infra-red reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy was used to measure the moisture content in the hot-air dried Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) ro ots, freeze-dried Asian ginseng roots, red Asian ginseng roots and hot -air dried American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) roots. The convectio n drying method was used as the reference method. The calibration equa tion was obtained using the wavelength segment 1100-2500 nm with first derivative and scatter correction. A high correlation was obtained be tween the two analytical methods (R-2=0.998), with a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 0.14% for the NIR method. The bias between the tw o methods was insignificant, being only 0.12%. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd.