Determination of moisture content of ginseng by near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy

Near infra-red reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy was used to measure the moisture content in the hot-air dried Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) roots, freeze-dried Asian ginseng roots, red Asian ginseng roots and hot-air dried American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) roots. The convection drying method was used as the reference method. The calibration equation was obtained using the wavelength segment 1100-2500 nm with first derivative and scatter correction. A high correlation was obtained between the two analytical methods (R2 = 0.998), with a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 0.14% for the NIR method. The bias between the two methods was insignificant, being only 0.12%. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd