Relationship of Oil Estimates in Whole and Crushed Seeds of Rapeseed-Mustard by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Oil content of 35 rapeseed-mustard (Brassica) varieties/strains was estimated by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) in whole and crushed seeds to study their inter-relationships by deriving two linear equations from the data using oil content in crushed seed as independent variable (Y) and that of whole seed as dependent variable (X) and vice versa also, to compare their efficiency in the prediction of oil content. Estimates of oil content in whole and crushed seeds were positively and significantly related with each other (r = 0.743** and r = 0.744**). Oilcontent in crushed seed could be assessed by both the linear regression equations, Y (whole seed) = 19.26 + 0.539**X [equation I] and Y (crushed seed) = −2.54 + 1.023**X [equation II], where X is the independent variable. The paired-‘t’ test revealed the adequacy of both the equations. However equation I (p = 0.80–0.70) appeared to give better prediction than equation II (p = 0.50–0.40).The present investigation suggests that the oil content in the crushed seeds could be adjusted on the basis of equation I to precisely assess the oil content of the varieties to determine the price of the crop produce.