Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and simple algorithm analysis for rapid and non-destructive assessment of cotton fiber maturity and crystallinity for plant mapping

Authors: Kim, Hee-Jin; Liu, Yongliang; Zeng, Linghe

Submitted to: Sensors
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/29/2024
Publication Date: 4/30/2024
Citation: Kim, H.J., Liu, Y., Zeng, L. 2024. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and simple algorithm analysis for rapid and non-destructive assessment of cotton fiber maturity and crystallinity for plant mapping. Sensors. 24(9):2888. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24092888.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s24092888

Interpretive Summary: Cotton boll is the reproductive organ producing cotton fibers and plays an important role of determining cotton fiber yield and quality. Information of boll distribution within a cotton plant is essential for evaluating the adaptation and response of cotton plants to environmental and biotic stress, and for optimizing resource allocation and management strategies. Conventional fiber property measurement instruments such as high volume instrument (HVI) and advanced fiber information system (AFIS) have been used to map the location and the timing of boll development from numerous cotton bolls combined. Thus, traditional mapping of the spatial boll distribution within a plant or across a field is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process for collecting sufficient samples at each node and branch position. In this study, fiber infrared maturity and crystallinity were assessed by the attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy protocol that has the micro-sampling capability and is suitable for a single boll analysis. Results showed that ATR FT-IR technique enabled the evaluation of fiber infrared maturity and crystallinity at a boll level, and average maturity and crystallinity values were highly correlated with HVI micronaire (MIC) and AFIS maturity ratio (M). The results could provide cotton scientists an alternative and rapid tool for the node-by-node mapping of fiber maturity and crystallinity within a plant, and its further application in fiber maturity and crystallinity distribution comparison between cotton plants.

Technical Abstract: Information of boll distribution within a cotton plant is critical to evaluate the adaptation and response of cotton plants to environmental and biotic stress in cotton production. Cotton researchers have applied available conventional fiber measurements, such as high volume instru-ment (HVI) and advanced fiber information system (AFIS), to map the location and the timing of boll development and distribution within plants and further to determine within-plant variabil-ity of cotton fiber properties. Both HVI and AFIS require numerous cotton bolls combined for the measurement. As an alternative approach, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform in-frared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy was proposed to measure fiber maturity (MIR) and crystallinity (CIIR) of a sample as little as 0.5 mg lint. Extending fiber maturity and crystallinity measurement into a single boll for node-by-node mapping, FT-IR method might be advantageous due to less sampling amount compared with HVI and AFIS methods. Results showed that FT-IR technique enabled the evaluation of fiber MIR and CIIR at a boll level, which resulted average MIR and CIIR values highly correlated with HVI micronaire (MIC) and AFIS maturity ratio (M). Hence, FT-IR technique possesses a good potential for a rapid and non-destructive node-by-node mapping of cotton boll maturity and crystallinity distribution.