Rapid and accurate evaluation of the quality of commercial organic fertilizers using near infrared spectroscopy

PLoS One. 2014 Feb 25;9(2):e88279. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088279. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The composting industry has been growing rapidly in China because of a boom in the animal industry. Therefore, a rapid and accurate assessment of the quality of commercial organic fertilizers is of the utmost importance. In this study, a novel technique that combines near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy with partial least squares (PLS) analysis is developed for rapidly and accurately assessing commercial organic fertilizers quality. A total of 104 commercial organic fertilizers were collected from full-scale compost factories in Jiangsu Province, east China. In general, the NIR-PLS technique showed accurate predictions of the total organic matter, water soluble organic nitrogen, pH, and germination index; less accurate results of the moisture, total nitrogen, and electrical conductivity; and the least accurate results for water soluble organic carbon. Our results suggested the combined NIR-PLS technique could be applied as a valuable tool to rapidly and accurately assess the quality of commercial organic fertilizers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbon / chemistry
  • China
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Fertilizers / analysis*
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Least-Squares Analysis
  • Nitrogen / chemistry
  • Soil
  • Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / methods
  • Waste Management / methods

Substances

  • Fertilizers
  • Soil
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41371248 and 41371299), the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB100503), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20131321), the 111 Project (B12009), Qing Lan Project, Innovative Research Team Development Plan of the Ministry of Education of China (IRT1256), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.