Inserts for FOSS NIRS 6500 spinning ring cups

摘要

Near infared reflectance (NIR) analysis has proven be a very efficient tool for elevating seed quality for rapeseed and mustard breeder. Calibrations for oil, protein, fatty acids, glucosinolate, fibre, chlorophyll, etc. are routinely utilized by many laboratories supporting rapeseed breeding efforts around the world. The FOSS NIRS 6500 instrument is a popular model. With the use of an autoloader and the spinning ring cup attachment the analysis is simple and rapid. Intact seed can be utilized which makes it a non-destructive method. The spinning ring cup holds about 4-5 grams of seed and is therefore useful for examining samples harvested from large or small plots and individual 3 meter rows. However the minimum sample size of about 4 grams limits its usefulness for samples from individual plants harvested from field plots or from the greenhouse. We found the inserts sold by FOSS for these spinning ring cups impractical and too expensive for routine use, so we designed our own. A local machine shop made three sizes for us with the following nominal sizes: two gram, one gram and 0.5 gram (Cost: $6.00 each). The inserts allow intact seed samples from individual plants to be analyzed by the FOSS NIR instrument. The insert size choice depends on the size of the smallest samples.