Determination of cellulose content in plants or biomass can provide critical information on plant health or biomass characteristics. An NIR field spectroradiometer like the PSR+ or RS-3500 can measure cellulose fast, with no sample prep, non-destructively in the field.
Determination of cellulose content is traditionally done with time-consuming and costly wet chemistry. With a PSR+ or RS-3500, the process begins with scans of the plant or biomass material. NIR analysis for cellulose relies on absorption features created by chemical bonds that include C-O, O-H, C-H, and N-H .
The PSR+ and RS-3500 are both portable full range, UV-VIS-NIR instruments with high resolution and low noise. DARWin SP Data Acquisition software includes 19 vegetation indices in a pull down menu, including the NDVI and Red/Green indices which can be used to determine the health of a plant or a canopy.