Near infrared spectroscopy coupled to chemometrics to evaluate different rubber tree clones

What is it about?

The rubber tree is a species of great economic importance due to its natural rubber, which is widely used in the tire industry due to its resistance and does not yet have a synthetic formula capable of completely replacing it. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an emerging technique for soil and plant analysis. The aim of this study is to predict the Hevea rubber tree clones, detect and discriminate leaves at different stages of development (young or adult), as well as to discriminate healthy and affected adult leaves by South American Leaf Blight, through the spectroscopic technique of visible to infrared (Vis-NIR) combined with chemometrics. Using dried ground leaves samples, leaves from 14 rubber trees clones (H. brasiliensis) were evaluated, these leaves were collected in 3 tree stages young trees; adult or mature trees; and mature trees with symptoms of Microcyclus ulei (disease leaves). The near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra were acquired using a spectrometer FOSS-NIRS (model DS2500). An average of 64 scans operating in a range between 400 and 2500 nm under spectral resolution of 0.5 nm were used for all the spectral acquisitions. With the use of reflectance spectroscopy in visible and near infrared, it was possible to efficiently discriminate the clones of the rubber tree, regardless of the use of spectra obtained from young leaves or from mature leaves. Which might enable studies with characterization of the genetic materials present in the germplasm banks and in situ. The technique also efficiently differentiated the young leaves from the mature leaves, as well as separating the healthy mature leaves from the diseased mature leaves These results can contribute to the breeding and conservation programs of the species, obtaining fast results and without the use of chemical reagents.

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