Nutritive evaluation of forages by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Abstract

Since the potential of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for forage evaluation was discovered three decades ago, it has become clear that it is a powerful tool for the estimation of chemical components in these feed-stuffs. In addition, it has been successfully applied for the estimation of digestibility and degradability parameters, thus facilitating livestock ration formulation. The present review deals with the main reference methods that have been used in order to achieve proper calibration of NIR spectroscopy. Special attention will be focused on the weak points of these procedures with the intention of increasing NIR spectroscopy potential in this area.