Rapid qualitative and quantitative evaluation of deer antler (Cervus elaphus) using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Abstract Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been applied for both the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the velvet deer antler. The most important parameters of determining the quality of velvet antler are the habitat (the country of origin) and ash content. Conventionally, the habitat is determined by examining the appearance of samples (by human eye), which lacks objectivity. Ash content is measured by an ignition method (measurement ash residue), however, it is too slow (4–5 h) to be used for rapid at-site measurement. Velvet antlers from three different habitats (China, New Zealand, and Russia), albeit the same species of Cervus elaphus, were evaluated in this paper. Soft independence modeling of class analogies (SIMCA) and partial least squares (PLS) were used for classification of habitat and determination of ash content. The habitat was successfully identified with over 80% accuracy, and the ash content prediction result using PLS regression showed good correlation with the reference ignition method with a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 1.264%.