Applications of near infrared spectroscopy in cotton impurity and fiber quality detection: A review

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an emerging, non-invasive, multi-index, simple preparation of sample process analytical technique suitable for cotton quality assessment. Cotton impurities not only affect the quality of seed cotton and lint cotton but also the quality of textiles. These impurities can occur during harvest and in the stage of postharvest handing, especially during pack house operations. In such a global and competitive marketplace, it is necessary to explore rapid, accurate, and precise cotton quality measurement techniques which require less expensive instrumentation, exhibit increased flexibility versatility, and perform both laboratory measurements and non-laboratory (at-line or field) measurements. Some reports have been published on the use of NIRS technology for inspecting cotton impurity contents, micronaire, and cotton fiber quality. This article condenses a representative selection of recent research in order to observe the significant progresses in how NIRS technology is applied to inspection of cotton impurity and cotton fiber. Additionally, the drawbacks and obstacles of NIRS for quality measurement in cotton are summarized and the trends are discussed.