Application of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy combined with chemometrics to quantitative analysis of imidacloprid in rice samples

Abstract Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has been utilized as an effective tool for quantitative analysis of imidacloprid in rice powder samples. Unlike previous studies, our method for sample preparation was mixing imidacloprid with rice powder instead of polyethylene. Then, terahertz time domain transmission spectra of these mixed samples were measured and the absorption coefficient spectra of the samples with frequency range extending from 0.3 to 1.7 THz were obtained. Asymmetric least square (AsLS) method was utilized to correct the slope baselines that are presented in THz absorption coefficient spectra and improve signal-to-noise ratio of THz spectra. Chemometrics methods, including partial least squares (PLS), support vector regression (SVR), interval partial least squares (iPLS), and backward interval partial least squares (biPLS), were used for quantitative model building and prediction. To achieve a reliable and unbiased estimation, bootstrapped Latin partition was chosen as an approach for statistical cross-validation. Results showed that the mean value of root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) for PLS (0.5%) is smaller than SVR (0.7%), these two methods were based on the whole absorption coefficient spectra. In addition, PLS performed a better performance with a lower RMSEP (0.3%) based on the THz absorption coefficient spectra after AsLS baseline correction. Alternatively, two methods for variable selection, namely iPLS and biPLS, yielded models with improved predictions. Comparing with conventional PLS and SVR, the mean values of RMSEP were 0.4% (iPLS) and 0.3% (biPLS) by selecting the informative frequency ranges. The results demonstrated that an accurate quantitative analysis of imidacloprid in rice powder samples could be achieved by terahertz time-domain transmission spectroscopy combined with chemometrics. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that THz time-domain spectroscopy can be used for quantitative determinations of other pesticides in other agricultural products.