Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy For The Analysis Of Water And Total Nitrogen Contents In Poultry Litter

Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) offers advantages over gravimetric water content and dry combustion nitrogen determinations that could be significant for routine laboratory operations. Water content in ground and blended poultry litter samples was successfully estimated by NIRS, but total nitrogen predictions differed significantly from measured ones. The failure to predict total nitrogen could be related to the unspecific nature of the relation and to the quality of the data used for calibration. Additionally, a model was established that permits the estimation of water content in poultry litter in its original state from that measured after grinding and blending.